Just Not Enough
by kodoku na oujo
Summary: Sasuke can only watch. That's all that is allowed when you are merely "friends." If only he could change it. But when life is full of wonderful and horrid things, will there be any chance for love to bloom or will it subside to drama? -unfinished-
1. It's Unrequited

**I've wanted to write this story ever since I listened to Taylor Swift's song "Teardrops on my Guitar." You should listen to it after reading this. Or before. Or during, but listening to music while reading makes me distracted. Well, whenever you listen to it, listen to it. Trust me, it's good.**

**And I know what you're going to say. _NaruSaku_?! OMG! WTF? BBQ! Yes it is (at least in the beginning). I find myself hating Sakura less now and I am now able to stomach the thought and Naruto and Sakura. Shocking indeed. Relax NaruSaku lovers… I'm just having a little fun. Don't hurt me :cower in fear:.**

**Little tid-bits to know: Story is set in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Why? Cuz I feel like it. So that means that you may not get a few things (unless you live in Pittsburgh). Also… this was meant to be an oneshot, but I had more ideas for it. Thus, it will have quite a few chapters!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I mean, if I own Naruto… things would be different. And people would riot. Simple as that.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love (at least for now). If you have a problem with it, feel free to envision Sasuke as a woman XD lol.**

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The last bell of the day could be heard throughout the entire school building. As soon as the loud ringing ended, a flood of students exited their classrooms and headed for their lockers. The massive mob of teenagers crowded the skinny hallways and easy and quick movement through the school seemed almost impossible. But such things were typical for the students of Thomas Jefferson high school, whom had grown used to them. On cool October Fridays such as this one, most of the student body would franticly try to leave the school in hopes of going out with friends or going the weekly football games (which as students of TJ would know, always end with a victory for our football team).

Though there were ones that choose to exclude themselves from such things.

One was Uchiha Sasuke. The somewhat scrawny looking boy in his fourth year of high school made his way through the crowded hallways. He clutched the strap of his backpack tightly, in fear on some one running into or shoving him and making the raven-haired boy drop the heavy bag. After some crafty maneuvering, the pale boy finally made it to his locker. He let out a sigh and let his backpack drop beside his feet. His pale hand opened his ugly dull green-colored locker and dropped down to his knees.

The boy remained silent as he gathered the books and folders he needed from his locker. Sasuke was not one whom you could call "social." He was never one to start a conversation and most of the people around him, annoyed the pale boy so much that he could barely stand to speak with them.

But there was one person who the raven could never hate or ignore.

"Hey there, Sasuke." Uzumaki Naruto said the raven-haired boy as he came up beside him. The blonde then opened his own locker, which was located right beside the pale boy's locker. The blue-eyed boy let of a sigh of relief. "Aren't Fridays great?" he asked as he smiled.

Immediately, at least five good reasons as to why they were, in fact, _not_ great came to Sasuke's mind, but the raven choose to keep those thoughts to himself. "I guess so." Sasuke said in an emotionless tone.

Sasuke and Naruto had been best friends ever since the seventh grade when they first meet. Their very first encounter was truly a humorous one, which ended in the two boys trying to literally kick the shit out of the other. The two boys' relationship had gone through many stages, all the way from utter hatred to the best of friends, and no one had ever imagined that two boys so different and yet so similar could form this absurd friendship.

Sasuke did not make eyes contact with the blonde-haired boy. How could he even try to gaze upon his best friend? Reason being that, it would seem, whenever the tan boy was around Sasuke, his body did not seem to function properly. Everytime that Sasuke even heard Naruto's name the raven-haired boy's heart would speed up to an alarming rate, sweat would begin to form on his pale skin, and breathing seemed to become much harder than the Uchiha had ever remembered. When the raven was in the presence of the taller male, all those symptoms seemed to increase ten-fold.

There was a perfectly logical explanation to Sasuke bizarre behavior whenever Naruto was around. And that perfectly logical explanation just happened to be that the raven-haired boy was head over heels, madly in love with his best friend.

The raven made sure to never let his friend or anybody for that matter know of his secret feelings for the blonde. One could call Sasuke cowardly for two main reasons. The Uchiha was a very proud person and his ego would not be able to withstand the stares and laughter that would surround him, if the secret of his harbored feeling for another male were common knowledge throughout the entire school. And the second reason, he also would not be able to handle the rejection that the raven undoubtedly knew would await him if Naruto were to ever learn of his feelings.

For you see… Naruto was already taken.

_Her_ name was Haruno Sakura and the way Naruto spoke of the girl made her sound like an angel sent from heaven to grace the world with her unworldly beauty and kindness. Such a description of the pink-haired girl made Sasuke sick to his stomach. Because, as much as the raven hated to admit it, that description may not be so far fetched.

Sakura was kind, beautiful, intelligent, responsible, and just seemed to be an all around perfect teenager. And the worst part, Sasuke thought, about the girl was the fact that she really seemed to care for the blue-eyed boy.

Sasuke sighed and rose to his feet as he closed his locker. The blonde beside him closed his own locker only a little after the pale boy had closed his. Naruto then leaned against the cool metal door of his locker and smiled once again.

"I can't wait until tomorrow." Naruto's grin grew wider.

"And what's so special about tomorrow?" Sasuke asked with a smug smirk on his lips.

"Me and Sakura are gonna go out on a date." A small blush could be seen on the sun-kissed skin of the boy's cheeks.

Sasuke glanced up at Naruto for only a moment, so that he could catch the look of pure happiness that the blonde wore. It was moments like this, that Sasuke realized that he had no chance whatsoever with the blue-eyed male. Sasuke turned his dark eyes away from his best friend and choose to focus on the spectacled titles of the floor. The number of people walking through the halls had decreased immensely, since it was almost ten minutes after the last bell of the day had rung. The blonde, still engulfed in his happy mood, did not notice the sullen expression that graced the Uchiha boy's handsome, young face.

Just when Sasuke felt as if the day could not get any worse, _she_ showed up.

"Narutoooo!!!" Sakura's voice rang through the hallway. The pink-haired girl came up behind the blonde, latched onto his torso and then snuggled her face into his strong back. Naruto laughed as he was pushed forward slightly due to the force at which Sakura ran into him. The blonde looked over his shoulder and then made his body turn so that he and the girl whom was still hugging his stomach could face each other.

"You almost knocked me over." Naruto said as he continued to smile.

"I'm sorry, love." Sakura said as she loosened her grip on her boyfriend's waist and stood up straight so that she was now at her regular height. It did not matter, for Naruto was still taller than the pink-haired girl by a good six inches. "But even if you had fallen over, everything would have been all right. As a doctor-to-be, I could have nursed you back to health." Sakura pushed her body closer to the blonde's and looked up into his beautiful blue eyes.

"With your skills, I would have been healed in no time." Naruto leaned his face in toward Sakura's, so that there were now only mere inches away. Sakura then closed the gap and kissed the blonde boy's lips gently.

Sasuke did not want to watch the touching scene any longer. The pale boy decided that he should pretend to have forgotten something from his locker and opened the metal door quickly. The dull green locker door was the perfect wall that stood between him and the young couple. Sasuke reached for a book inside his locker slowly as he, unwillingly, continued to listen to the two people beside him.

"All right, I have to go." Sakura said softly as she laced her fingers with Naruto's. "Ino's waiting for me." The young couple shared one last chaste kiss and then finally parted with each other. Sakura let her emerald eyes wander over to the figure of the pale boy behind her boyfriend for a split second. "I'll see you at work! Bye Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura yelled as she ran up the wheelchair ramp in the hallway and toward the large doors that matched the color of the lockers. Sasuke was a little surprised to hear the pink-hair girl say goodbye to him even though they had not said a word to each other during her short time with him and Naruto. He shrugged it off as nothing.

"See ya!" Naruto yelled back to her with a big smile. Sasuke closed his locker once again, when he was certain that the pink-haired girl was out of sight. Naruto then leaned against his locker once again and sighed. "You don't know what you're missing, dude." He said to the raven-haired boy beside him.

"You mean almost landing head first onto the hard titles?" Sasuke smirked as he gave his sarcastic reply. "Oh yeah, I'm so sorry that doesn't happen to me."

"I'm serious, man! I've never felt so happy in my life. You should think about getting a girlfriend of your own." Naruto then placed a hand on the raven's shoulders as the two began to walk down the same hall that Sakura had moments before. Sasuke's smirk disappeared and in its place, his lips pursed into a thin line. "What about, Ino? She likes you."

"_Used_ to like me." The Uchiha corrected him. Both Sakura and her best friend, Yamanaka Ino, had, at one point in their lives, had the biggest crushes on Sasuke. But that was so many years ago, back when they were all still in junior high. Sasuke shook his head as unpleasant memories of Pleasant Hills middle school reentered his mind. But then again, those years were filled with horrible memories for almost everyone. "Besides, aren't both she and Temari fighting over Shikamaru?"

"Oh yeah. That's right. Poor guy." Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "Poor Ino, too." When one was against some one as stubborn and easily angered as Temari, it never ended very well. The two boys pitied Shikamaru, for if he were to date her, she would probably lead him to ruin(1). "But there has to be some one that you like, man. I mean it's only natural." Naruto looked at his best friend with his bright blue eyes, and Sasuke felt as if he could melt right where he stood. The pale boy controlled his emotions well and removed the blonde's hand from his shoulder as the two boys made their way down the stairs.

"I don't _have_ to like some one." Sasuke said sternly. "Unlike some people, I have my mind focused on other things besides dating." It was not a complete lie. Sasuke did manage to think about things besides Naruto… sometimes.

"You're just completely asexual, aren't you?" Naruto smirked at the back of the raven's head. Sasuke was glad that Naruto was behind him, or else the blonde would be able to see the intense blush that covered most of his face.

Sasuke did not stop walking or show any sign of embarrassment. The raven knew what would happen if he tried to defend himself against one of Naruto's attacks on his sexuality. He had learned a long time ago that if you paid attention the blonde's remarks, he would, with no doubt, end up embarrassing you with sexual innuendos and perverted thoughts. The Uchiha knew it was best to just walk away and pretend that you never heard him.

"Is that a 'yes, you are completely asexual' or a 'no, I masturbate quite often'?" Naruto laughed as he and Sasuke went through the doors to exit the school and walked across the small patch of cement in the front of the school. The two boys stopped right before the road that circled around the school building and looked to see if some crazy teenager was going to speed their way down the road and hit them. When the coast was clear, they crossed the road and began walking down the steep path that led to the student parking lot.

Sasuke tried his best to ignore the blonde's moronic blabbering. He often wondered why he liked the idiot so much. But as the raven-haired teenager glanced over at the taller boy, he rediscovered his reasons once again. The blonde had this aura around him that made everyone around him happy. Something about his smile, his_ real_, genuine smile, was intoxicating. Anyone who had ever seen the blonde with his big, toothy grin and his warm, loving eyes would admit to that warming sensation in the pit of their stomach. One could say that Naruto, in a way, has about him an aura of love and affection.

And how Sasuke craved that affection from his best friend. When Naruto smiled, Sasuke felt warm and, dare an Uchiha ever admit to this sort of feeling, fuzzy inside. When his would catch a glimpse into his beautiful blue eyes, he could swear he was melting. Such things Sasuke would never confess to out loud. He dare not risk losing the friendship he had between himself and the blonde-haired boy.

The Uchiha tried to convince himself that a relationship was not worth losing the best friend one has ever had and will ever have in their life. Just being around him was good enough… for now.

"You're no fun when you ignore me." The blonde pouted. He leaned forward to try and look at the raven's face, but Sasuke thwarted his efforts and walked faster, toward his car.

"I can ignore you when you're being idiotic." Sasuke said with a smirk as he continued to walk farther away from the blonde.

"Cold, man. Very cold."

Naruto then ran to catch up with his friend and the two walked sided by side for the rest of the short walk to Sasuke's car. The raven pulled his car keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door as the two boys approached the vehicle.

"I still can't get over how cool your parents are for getting you this car." Naruto said as he looked over the beautiful car once again. He then gave a short wolf whistle. "A nice blue 2003 Saturn Ion(2). You're so lucky."

"They just got it for me so that I wouldn't hate them for never being around." Sasuke replied as he slid into the driver side of his car. The raven's parents were always away on business trips or they would stay at their offices very late into the night, finishing work. One might say that Sasuke's parents were indeed workaholics. The raven had to stop and think how his parent had found the time out of their busy schedules to conceive his brother and himself.

"Still. I would kill for a car." The tan boy whined as he opened the passenger's door and got into the car. "I feel kind of bad for depending you to take me places."

"I think that I should consider this karma." Sasuke said after buckling his seatbelt and starting up the car. "I mean, we both depended on Itachi to drive us everywhere when we were still in middle school and he was in high school. So this is what I get."

"You're the only person who could make having a car a punishment."

Sasuke laughed as he hoped for a kind soul to come along in the long, long, _very long_ line of cars that were piled up, waiting to leave the gravel-covered lower parking lot of TJ high school. Eventually the teacher, whom was watching over the many teenagers in their cars, stopped a random vehicle and let Sasuke move into the line of cars.

The blonde sighed. "I can't believe we have to work today." He groaned as he let his head slump back against the headrest of the seat. "I wanted to go watch Kiba play in the football game."

"He's not the greatest football player." Sasuke said as he tried not to laugh.

"That's why I wanted to watch him. I mean, he gets tackled… _badly_ almost every game. It's hilarious."

"That's not very nice." Sasuke said with a smug look.

"You know I'm just kidding. Besides," the blonde paused. "We could have watched the cheerleaders too." Sasuke wanted to hit his head off of the steering wheel, but killing himself _and_ wrecking his car did not seem like a very good thing to do. The raven stopped at the stop sign right before the road around the school merged into Old Clairton Road. After waiting for a few cars to pass, Sasuke drove away from the school building.

"Is that all you think about?"

"Do you ever think about it?" Sasuke had grown used to the hits at his sexual life by his best friend. Naruto had been doing it every since puberty had graced the boys with its presence and Sasuke had been embarrassed the first couple of years, especially when the blonde would say something perverted or ask why Sasuke never had any interest in girls. But the raven soon learned to ignore him and out grew that awkward stage. Naruto, however, did not.

"I would stop while you're ahead. I might just push you out of this car while I'm still driving." Sasuke gave his friend a small, yet wicked smirk. Naruto swallowed loudly.

"You wouldn't do that." He replied.

"I wouldn't?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow as he gave a questioning look.

"You might scratch your car door." Both boys laughed. As Sasuke passed the Heritage Hills apartment homes, he couldn't help but slightly remember how Naruto and his family had lived there for a little less than a year. It was funny how he had lived so close to Naruto, but had never known it. Though Naruto's family only took residence there for a short while and that was too many years back to remember, he still wished he had meet the taller boy then. If was even possible, the raven was even more anti-social as a child than as a teenager and could have really used some one like the boy beside him during those years.

Naruto and Sasuke had gone to the same schools all throughout their lives, but did not meet each other until seventh grade. Both thought this to be quite ironic when they found out about it. And ever since that day when they meet in seventh period Language Arts, their friendship began (after about a rocky month of disliking each other).

Sasuke pulled onto Parkview Drive and drove down the steep hill toward the blonde's house.

"You should really move." Sasuke said as he eyes the houses around him. "This place is creepy." The raven did not know how one could live in a place where every single house looked exactly like the one before it. It just screamed "horror movie"(3).

"Blame my parents, man. It freaks me out too." Naruto shivered and Sasuke laughed. The car then pulled into his driveway and Naruto gathered his things and got out of the car. "See ya at work, Sasuke." Naruto said before he closed the car door and flashed his best friend a brilliant smile. The blonde slapped the door shut and entered the pin for his garage door to open and let him inside. Once the raven knew he was in, he pulled out of the driveway and headed home.

Sasuke smiled as he drove on. Naruto's smile always made him feel happy.

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(1) Obviously this part will remind people of the scene where, after a father-to-son talk, Shikamaru thinks to himself about how his mother had lead his father to ruin.

(2) If you have read my other fic Give Me That Sunshine and my oneshot Car Troubles, then you know already that I love cars. Also random fun fact… I gave Sasuke my sister's car. Yes, she owns that very same model, down to the color. What? Naruto had my car in Car Troubles, so Sasuke gets my sister's. It's fair.

(3) I live there… and it does.

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**I feel like I'm jumping right into things in the first chapter (even though it may seem like not much has happened). I'm not sure how long this will be. I guess we'll just have to see what the road of fate takes this little fic.**

**I also want to warn you all right now that this story is going to include some events that are very, very similar to ones that have happened in my life. I won't tell you which ones happened to me and which ones are made-up, cause I feel like that would make me a little emotional. I'm doing this because I feel like I am still worrying myself over these things and need to move on. Normally writing helps me through things and I want to give this a try.**

**I tell you this because the events are very personal, so that might mean I'll have a little trouble writing about them. So… it may be awhile in between updates XP heh, heh. Sorry.**


	2. It's Over

**I really can't think of something to say right now. I stayed up _really_ late last night writing this and now I am just exhausted. I'll say something next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I'm too tired to come up with something witty. So Naruto just doesn't belong to me.**

**Warning: Too tired… falling asleep. It's the same as the last chapter. Just check that :passes out:.**

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To be perfectly honest, Sasuke enjoyed working on Friday nights. The Rite Aid Pharmacy was normally empty and slow on these night, since most of the people of West Jefferson Hills were out having fun with family and friends instead of shopping or picking up their prescription drugs. He also enjoyed those Friday nights, because the "boss from Hell(1)," Orochimaru, was rarely working. Sasuke was not sure what he did to the older man, but whatever it was… it must have been bad. The pale man just seemed to have it out for both him and Naruto, and the Uchiha could not figure out the reason as to why that was.

Those reasons were all well and good, but Sasuke would be lying if he were to say that those were the main reasons why he liked Friday nights. The real reason was because he was normally working _alone_ with Naruto.

The other employees always have something going on Friday nights and thus, Naruto and Sasuke are normally called in to replace them. The raven could think almost a million things he would rather do than work, but if it meant he could spend more time with his best friend, he would endure it.

Sasuke and Naruto had arrived for work almost an hour ago and the blonde was already making it hard for the pale boy to concentrate on working. The tan boy was clumsy sometimes, to say the least. When the two of them were "facing" the items, or making sure that all the items in the isles were lined up in an orderly manner(2), Naruto had accidentally knocked over an entire row of hair dyes. Sasuke was an isle over when he heard the items fall to the ground and he rushed over to see what happened. The raven laughed when he saw Naruto on his ass with boxes on his lap and on the floor around him.

"Very graceful." Sasuke remarked in between his fits of laughter.

"Ha, ha, ha." Naruto mocked his best friend's laughter: his words dripping with sarcasm.

The blonde quickly got to his feet, only to bend back down to pick up the many, many boxes. The blonde grumbled to himself about his own stupidity, when he noticed Sasuke picking up the hair dye boxes as well.

"You don't have to help me, Sasuke. You have your own work to do."

"Moron. This will take you forever to do by yourself." Sasuke replied. He did not look up at the blonde as he collected more of the boxes into his arms. Naruto gave him a small smile and thanked him.

"Naruto! What happened?!" Sakura said as she came running down the isle.

Both Naruto and Sasuke rose to their feet and looked over at the girl running toward them. Sakura stopped when she was standing in front of the mess of boxes on the floor. She looked down at her feet and then let her gaze return to her boyfriend.

"Oh, I was just a little clumsy." Naruto said with a laugh as he put a few boxes back on the shelves. Once he put the few boxes down he turned to face the pink-haired girl again. "What are you doing here, Sakura? Shouldn't you be back in the Pharmacy?"

"Oh, I was returning a few items to the shelves that a customer didn't want and I happened to hear the crash." Sakura said with a small laugh. She let her eyes look beyond her boyfriend to Sasuke who was too busy putting the hair dye boxes away to listen to the conversation. She smiled and then dropped down to pick up a few boxes. "Here. I'll help you two."

"Sakura, you don't have to do that. I'm sure you're busy." Naruto said as he went to get more boxes from the floor.

"I don't mind." Sakura then moved around Naruto and walked over to Sasuke. She leaned closer as she stretched to put a box on the top shelf. She lightly bumped the raven-haired boy with her elbow as she brought her arm down. "Oh! I'm sorry, Sasuke." She said as she jumped backward a little and looked down at the boy's pale arm.

"It's fine." Sasuke replied back sharply and then put away the last two boxes in his hands. The raven looked down at the floor and saw that they had cleaned everything up already. He then looked up briefly at the blonde who was putting away the last of the hair dyes and then started walking away.

"Where are you going, Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she placed her last box on a much lower shelf.

"Back to work." The pale boy did not look back at the girl. "Like you should too."

"Is he in a bad mood?" Sakura wondered out loud as she turned to face her boyfriend. He then finished placing the hair dyes on the shelves. Naruto turned to face Sakura and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Sasuke's just like that all the time. You should know that Sakura." Naruto laughed a little. "Not very social." Sakura then looked back to where she has lat seen Sasuke and sighed.

"I'm gonna go now. Got lots of things to do in the Pharmacy." She gave Naruto a warm smile and then gave him a small peck on his tanned cheek. "I'll see you later." Naruto and Sakura waved good-bye to each other and then turned to go their different ways. Naruto emerged from the isle and found Sasuke sitting behind the register counter going through some sale labels that were supposed to be put up. Naruto walked over to the counter and leaned his head on his arms as he looked up at his best friend.

"What do you want?" Sasuke said without looking up at the blonde.

"Is something wrong? You're acting more bastard-ish-like with Sakura than you normally do." Naruto looked at the raven with his bright, blue orbs wide and full of concern. Sasuke glanced at his friend for only a moment and that mere second was enough to have him cave in to Naruto's gaze.

"Sorry. I know she's your girlfriend all and I supposed to like her 'cause like the saying goes 'if your friends like them you have to,' but… Fuck, it's really hard for me." Sasuke said as he continued to go through the pile of labels. After sorting a few into a pile he looked over at the blonde to fine him smiling. The Uchiha found this action weird, since he just admitted he hated his best friend's girlfriend (even though Naruto had known this for some time now). "What?" he asked as his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"It means a lot to me that you're trying so hard." Naruto gave Sasuke a handsome smile filled with pure feelings of happiness. The raven could feel his heart beat harder.

"No problem, man." Sasuke replied as he gave his own small smile.

"It means you love me." Naruto teased as his smile turned into a playful, perverted grin. Sasuke sighed at Naruto's ability to ruin sensitive moments. Though he knew that joking was just part of his nature. Sasuke once again glanced over at Naruto, only to see that he had a strange look on his face. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was unsure if he should say it.

"What with that look?" Sasuke finally put down the labels and look directly at his best friend. Naruto seemed to have snapped out of some kind of trance and was forced back into reality.

"Oh, sorry. It's nothing. I just…" Naruto paused to scratch the back of his neck. "I just think that I should tell you—"

"Naruto! Sasuke!" The blonde was cut off by an all too familiar, creepy voice. Both Naruto and Sasuke stood up straight and turned to face their boss, Orochimaru. "Are you finished facing the front?" the older man asked Naruto as he looked at the two boys with narrow eyes. Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. He could not get over how creepy and scary the pale man looked. Orochimaru reminded the blonde of a snake in a way, which did not help.

"No, I didn't." Naruto had to refrain himself from grumbling and rolling his eyes at his boss.

"Then I suggest that you get back to work. I don't pay you to sit around and talk to your friends." His gaze then shifted from Naruto to Sasuke. "That goes for you too. Finish those labels." Naruto growled in his mind. The older man always seemed to be more of asshole toward him and Sasuke, more than any other employee. Naruto could hear the faints voices of the two other female employees talking amongst each other. Orochimaru never seemed to mind if they were talking instead of working. It was completely unfair. Once the snake was out of sight, Naruto crossed his arms in front of him and huffed. Both boys glared daggers in the direction in which Orochimaru had walked off.

"Let's kill 'em." Naruto whispered to the raven beside him. Sasuke could not help but laugh at that comment.

"Yeah." He replied. "I'll grab him from the back and you stab him in the heart." Sasuke laughed, but Naruto only shook his head in disagreement.

"That won't work." He stated. Sasuke looked at him, interested in what the other was talking about. "He doesn't have a heart. It's just an empty void." Sasuke laughed louder at that statement which caused Orochimaru to reemerge from one of the isle and glared at the two boys. They immediately separated and went back to the jobs they were assigned to do, in fear that if they did not they would be fired that very moment.

Orochimaru smirked and left the boys alone once again, though he kept a sharp eye on both of them for the rest of the night. Naruto and Sasuke hated this, for the older man was making sure that they were doing something productive (or what he thought to be productive) every second for the rest of their time there.

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When ten o'clock rolled around, the tension in the store died and a wave of relief washed over the two boys. Naruto let out a soft yelp of happiness as he punched out. He then stepped aside and let Sasuke do the same thing.

"Come on, let's go." Naruto whined to friend after he finished punching out for the night. Sasuke glared at his friend as he turned around.

"Hold it, moron." He said as he walked over to the blonde before him. The two boys walked out of the first set of self-opening doors and waited with the two other girl employees for Orochimaru to unlocked the second set and let them leave. It took only minutes for the snake to join the small group and let them leave. Naruto and Sasuke tried their best to avoid the older man's gaze and they quickly moved toward the raven's car.

"Hey Sasuke, let's hang out tonight." Naruto said as he got into the raven's car on the passenger's side. "I mean you technically don't have to be home until eleven(3), so just come over for a little."

Sasuke closed his own door and thought about his friend's offer. Of course it only took the raven a split second to decided, because he would have to been insane to not want to spend time with the person who was on his mind for most of the day. "Sure why not." He answered back to the blonde. Naruto then threw his arms up and cheered.

Sasuke quickly pulled out of the Rite Aid parking lot and got onto the main road. Naruto turned on the radio and started blaring some weird rap song that Sasuke had never heard before. The blonde did not know all of the words, but he was still singing the ones he knew rather loudly. After a few minutes of driving Sasuke turned the radio off and enjoyed the angry look Naruto gave him. "What was that for?" Naruto asked as Sasuke made a sharp turned and started driving up a steep hill.

"You're too white to be singing a song like that." Sasuke laughed.

"Joo are just jealous of my mad skills, boi." Naruto tried to mimic the weird gangster-esque tongue and then slammed his fist against his chest and then gave the peace sign. Sasuke only laughed more at Naruto's actions.

"I'm going to pretend I never saw that." The two of them laughed together and then Sasuke turned the radio back on, only he turned down the volume. Sometimes the pale boy wondered how his friend was not completely deaf by now.

A few minutes later, they drove down a steep hill that was Naruto's street. Sasuke once again glanced at the similar houses and could not help but think of his horror movie theory once again. He pulled into the blonde's driveway and parked on to the far left so that Naruto's parents could still get their car out of the garage if needed. The two boys quickly exited the vehicle when Sasuke turned the car off and they headed to the garage door and open it with the electronic pin pad.

They stepped over a few things that were set in the areas where there was not a car in order to get to the door that led into the blonde's house. Naruto hit the button to close his garage and then enter his home, Sasuke following close behind him.

"Mom! Dad! Me and Sasuke are home!" The blonde yelled as he removed his shoes quickly and set down his coat on the back of the couch. Sasuke held onto his jacket and started to properly untie his shoes to remove them, unlike Naruto. The blonde quickly walked through the living room when he did not hear a response from either of his parents. He then walked up to their door and opened it. "Mom? Dad? Are you in—" Naruto cut himself off when he saw his both of his parents standing before one another in their bed room. Kushina, his mother, had bags under red, puffy eyes. To Naruto, it looked like she had been crying recently. His father, Minato, looked angry. Well, both his father and mother looked angry, but Minato looked especially angry. The two of them looked over at their son when he entered the room.

"Oh. Naruto, sweetie." Kushina said as she rubbed her moist eyes. "We didn't hear you come in." The red-haired woman put on a fake smile and started walking toward her son.

"Don't just fucking act as if nothing has happened, Kushina!" Minato yelled at the woman as she walked in front of him.

"Not in front of Naruto!" Kushina spat back at her husband.

"Did something happen?" Naruto asked slowly as his gaze went from looking at his upset mother to his angry father. He held his stomach as he continued to look at them. He knew something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Nothing happened." Kushina said with another fake smile.

"Again with your fucking lying. Please, if you could try and at least tell the god damned truth once in your life."

"_I told you_! Don't talk about this in front of Naruto, damn it!" Sasuke could hear the angry screaming from the laundry room, where the Uzumaki family kept their shoes. He slowly made his way into the living room and stopped at the base of the steps, where the door to Naruto's parents' room was. He said nothing as he watched the scene unfold.

"He's bound to find out anyway. Especially when he sees you with _him_!" Minato's blue eyes were filled with rage and pain.

"Him?" Naruto asked softly. He looked over at his mother with wide eyes, in hopes of finding an answer to his question. When Naruto's eyes meet with the red-haired woman's, she turned away and tried to keep herself from crying.

"The man she's cheating on me with." Minato said as he continued to stare at his wife. Naruto's mouth hung open slightly, his father's words echoing through his mind. He looked over at his father as if he was searching for some sign to tell him that this was a cruel joke. He then looked over at his mother and when she said nothing, the blonde knew this horrible fact to be true. His mother really was cheating on his father.

"Mom…" the blonde-haired teenager said softly. The faint noise made Kushina looked back at her son with such a morose expression. She turned away quickly and began to sob into her hands.

"It's over." Minato said softly as he turned away from his wife and placed his clenched fists on the wall. He pounded his hand against the wall once, and the loud thump was enough to make Kushina jump and cry louder. The scene was almost too much for Naruto to bear.

Naruto did not stay in that spot for very long. Almost immediately after his parents stopped speaking did he turned around and grab his jacket. Sasuke was stunned at the whole event and so it took the raven a moment to realize his friend had moved. He snapped out of his state of shock and followed behind Naruto.

By this time the blonde had already slipped on his shoes and was about to walk out the front door. Sasuke quickly ran after his friend and left the two adults alone in their room once again.

"Naruto! Wait!" Sasuke said as he finally caught up with his best friend, while he held his shoes and jacket in his arms (for he did not have time to put them on properly). Naruto stopped walking, but his gaze remained focused on the tar driveway beneath his feet. "Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he moved in front of the blonde to look at him better. "Hey, man. Are… are you okay?" He asked carefully. He knew very well that Naruto was not okay, but he still felt like he should ask.

Suddenly Naruto wrapped his arms around his friend's scrawny figure and held him tightly. Sasuke's face became red as blood rushed to his cheeks. After a moment of initial shock, the raven found his voice once again.

"N-Naruto?! What are you—" Sasuke was interrupted by Naruto soft voice.

"I don't want to go back in there." He said softly. "I… I can't." Sasuke hear the faint sounds of crying coming from his best friend and understood just how hard the blonde was taking this whole thing. Sasuke then relaxed in the blonde's arms and wrapped his own arms around the tan boy's back. Naruto set his head down on Sasuke's shoulder and struggled to hold back the tears that were trying to escape from the corners of his blue eyes. The raven softly patted his friend's back.

"You don't have to, Naruto." He said in a low voice. "Come to my house. You can spend the night if you want." Naruto sniffled and a muffled sob was heard coming from his mouth.

"T-thanks, Sasuke." Naruto said so low that Sasuke could barely hear him. But the words were not necessary anyway. The Uchiha boy could tell that Naruto would rather be anywhere but here and Sasuke just happened to offer his home. The two boys quickly got back into Sasuke's blue car and drove toward the Uchiha household, which was only five minutes or less from the blonde's.

The only sound that was heard during the whole car ride was the sounds of Naruto's shaky breathing and his attempts to hold back his soft cries.

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(1) Trade marked… only it's for my real boss. Bastard.

(2) Most boring and redundant task ever. Hands down.

(3) I hate that rule for junior licenses. Soon I'll be 18 and that won't matter anymore XD!!

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**It was put under the category "drama" for a reason. Get used to the dramatic and sad events that are yet to come. What's that one saying? "When it rains, it pours." Yeah… that's how things will be for Naruto. I'm sorry. Forgive me Naruto XS!!**


	3. It's Itachi

**Chapter three. I really should be updating _Nothing But Air_, but this one is just coming naturally right now. I guess I'm thinking about this one too much. Don't worry fans of NBA ((the story not the National Basketball Association XD)), I still be updating it, just maybe not as quickly as I once was.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. He belongs to Kishimoto Masashi. But if I married Kishimoto-sensei, then it would technically be my manga-in-law ((I'm so weird XD)). I wish he was single.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love. Language. Dramatic moments. Don't feel bad if you don't like this sort of thing. It just makes you different and according to my self-help books, different is good XD ((Correction… I'm very weird)).**

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Naruto sat quietly on Sasuke's bed. The raven gave his friend a concerned look as he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a spare t-shirt and pants for the blonde to sleep in. Sasuke handed them to his friend and sat down beside him. The Uchiha did not know what to say to the blonde beside him, so he just settled for a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. The gesture was obviously welcomed and wanted for Naruto placed his tanned hand on Sasuke's and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Thanks, Sasuke." Naruto said quietly. "For everything." Naruto let a small smile form on his lips and he turned to face his best friend. The look on Naruto's face made Sasuke's heart beat faster. "I'm not sure what would have happened if you weren't there."

"Moron." Sasuke smiled. "You're my best friend. I'm always here for you." Naruto laughed softly, but Sasuke could still see the depressed feelings hidden beneath that brilliant smile. Sasuke pulled his hand away from Naruto's shoulder slowly. His fingers already missed the warmth that came from the other boy. "Come on, go get changed. Don't want to sleep in that ugly red Rite Aid shirt(1)." Naruto nodded and then stood up and exited Sasuke's bedroom.

The raven sighed as he fell backwards onto his bed. The raven hated seeing his friend is such a state. He felt so helpless. And even with Naruto being depressed, Sasuke could not help but think about Naruto's lips, his body… everything. The way his perfect lips were pursed into a thin line as he fought off the depressing thoughts that plagued his mind, or the way his jeans showed off just the right amount of toned muscle underneath the denim material. Maybe the blonde's perverted side was rubbing off more than the Uchiha had known. The pale boy wanted to hit himself for having such thoughts about his best friend when he was in such a horrid state.

'_I can't even stop thinking about that when he's depressed.' _Sasuke whined in his head.

The raven-haired teenager was pulled out of his thought when he heard a knock on the half open door. Sasuke's body shot up so that he was once again sitting on his bed. His dark eyes met with the equally dark ones of his brother.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said in an annoyed tone. His brother, Uchiha Itachi, was a college student at Slippery Rock University, which is why Sasuke was surprised to see his brother.

"Can't I come home every now and then without a reason. Maybe I missed my little brother too much and rushed to see you." Itachi smirked at the younger of the two, which only made Sasuke scowl.

"Yeah right." Sasuke scoffed. "Well, I don't care why you're here anymore." Sasuke closed his eyes and fell back onto his bed once more. Itachi looked at his brother with a gaze of confusion. He walked into the room and closed the door slowly so that it would not make a loud noise. His parents liked to go to bed early and were already fast asleep.

"Did something happen with Naruto?" Itachi asked as he sat beside Sasuke on his bed. "He looked really depressed when I saw him in the hallway." Sasuke did not move from his position.

"His parents got into a really bad fight. I'm not sure what happened or what's going to happen between them." Sasuke rubbed his eyes and then moved to rubbed the areas beneath and besides his eyes. "He's taking it really hard." Sasuke voice was lower than usual.

Itachi understood his younger brother's body language. He nodded his head slightly and placed his hand on Sasuke's head. "You're his best friend. Just being there will help lighten his burden." With those kind words, Itachi stood up from the bed and walked over to the bedroom door.

Sasuke sat up in bed and fixed the strands of hair that Itachi messed up. The pale boy glared at his brother for a moment. "Stop acting like you know everything." He said with a smirk.

"It's not an act." Itachi replied. Both of the brothers laughed. Sasuke looked back up at his older brother and smiled. There was a peaceful silence for only a moment before Sasuke spoke again.

"Thanks."

"Anytime, little brother. Anytime." Itachi was about to leave the room when Naruto opened the door and walked in. Itachi moved back a little so that Naruto could get through the doorway. "Ah, Naruto. Haven't seen you for a while. How are you?" Sasuke realized from how Itachi was talking, that when he said that he had saw Naruto in the hall, he meant that he was spying on him from his own room. Itachi would always tease the blonde when they were younger by flirting with him and the action just seemed to have stuck with the elder Uchiha (much to Sasuke annoyance).

"Uh, hey there Itachi." Naruto said with a nervous smile. "I'm fine, I guess."

"You seem to get more handsome every time I see you. Makes me want to come home more often." Itachi gave the blonde a seductive grin and Naruto returned it with a nervous laugh. Sasuke growled in his throat, which caused his older brother to glance over at him. His raven bangs fell into his dark eyes as he turned his head slightly.

"Itachi." Sasuke warned the older man. "Enough." Itachi backed away from the tan boy; his smirk growing wider.

"All right. If you wish." Itachi then moved around Naruto to get to the door. But before the older man was completely out of the room he smacked Naruto's ass as hard as he could. Naruto let out a yelp and jumped when the pale man's hand connected with his butt. He whipped around to face the door and then turned back to look at Sasuke, who was completely infuriated with his brother's actions.

"Damn. I thought he would stop doing that when he got a boyfriend." Naruto said quietly. He rubbed his ass tenderly and hissed at the slight pain that the elder Uchiha had inflicted.

"I don't think anything would make him stop doing that." Sasuke sighed. "Actually, he may do it more often this year. With Kisame(2) in Iowa and everything." Naruto swallowed loudly and sat down next to his friend on the bed. His eyes were as wide as they could possible be.

"I don't think I can handle another year of being molested by your brother."

"I don't want you anywhere near him when your birthday comes around." Sasuke said with a small laugh. "If he finds out that you're going to be eighteen and _legal_… who knows what he'll do." Sasuke had remembered when he had turned eighteen over the summer. Both Sasuke and his brother had attended a private school when they were younger and the ages for grades were different from public schools(3). His brother told him, at least five times everyday for a week after that, he should have sex right away, to which, of course, Sasuke had repeatedly disagreed. Naruto froze in place. His mouth drop open and his eyes seemed to bulge out of his head slightly. He then attached himself onto Sasuke's arm. Sasuke was surprised to say the least. It took most of his will power to hold back the blush that threatened to appear on his cheeks.

"No!" Naruto whined. "I don't want to be deflowered by your brother!" Sasuke twitched at Naruto's choice in words. "Deflowered" sounded too… _girly_. Pushing that thought aside he laughed at his friend.

"I'll kill him if he touches you, okay." Sasuke said after he was finished laughing.

"Yay!" Naruto gave his friend a big goofy grin and snuggled into his arm. "Big, strong Sasuke will save me." Sasuke sighed at the blonde's mocking tone. Naruto stopped smiling and looked up at his best friend for a moment. His expression was serious and Sasuke was a little taken back by the look on the blonde's face. "Sasuke?" he asked softly. "What do you think will happen between my parents?" Naruto released Sasuke's arm from his tight grip; the raven already missed the close contact between them.

Sasuke sighed as he looked into his friend's beautiful blue eyes. "Naruto, I really can't say. I know you're parents as well as my own, and I just don't know what will happen."

"They're gonna get divorced, aren't they?" Naruto asked as his eyes avoid contact with Sasuke's. The pale boy's heart sunk as he saw the look of grief on the tan boy's handsome face.

"It's very possible, Naruto." Sasuke said honestly. Naruto sighed.

"I wonder who it was that my mom found." Naruto said more to himself rather than to Sasuke. "I guess I'm still just a stupid kid you thinks that their father is the best guy in the world." Naruto let out a small laugh, but his smile was quickly replaced with a frown.

"You'll still see them both. They just won't be living together." Sasuke said as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Besides, this might be for the best. I mean you told me the other day that they seem to just be fighting constantly lately. Maybe they'll be happier apart."

"I still wish we could still be a family."

"I'm sure everything will be all right." Sasuke smiled at the blonde, and Naruto returned the smile. "Now come on. Get some sleep."

Naruto glanced at the digital clock on the dresser beside Sasuke's bed. It was only half passed eleven. Naruto jutted out his bottom lip and pouted. "But it's so early. Why don't you stay up later?"

"My parents have gotten me into that habit, you know that."

Naruto gave up and moved over to the other side of the bed. Sasuke's bed was a big queen size, so whenever he and Naruto had sleepovers at his house they would just share the bed. It had been that way ever since they were first became friends back in their middle school days and the habit just seemed to have stuck with them. Of course Sasuke would have to listen to at least an hour worth of Naruto making perverted jokes about it before they fell asleep and another hour or so when they woke up. The raven hoped that Naruto, in his current condition, would not be able to make any jokes.

Sasuke got up and turned off the light and then returned to his bed. He laid himself down and pulled the covers over his body. "Goodnight." The pale boy muttered.

"What? Not in the _mood_ tonight?" Naruto snickered and Sasuke groaned. Apparently Naruto could spare a few perverted jokes even when he was in the worst of moods.

"Goodnight, Naruto" Sasuke said forcefully. The blonde beside him laughed.

"All right, all right. Goodnight Sasuke." The raven sighed as a peaceful silence swept over his room. Unfortunately, the peace was disrupted by unwelcome thoughts in his mind. He really wanted to control himself, but it was very hard to do so when Naruto was lying beside him. The pale just hoped that he would not have any perverted dreams about a certain blonde-haired boy.

Eventually the two boys drifted off to sleep, both with stressful things on their minds.

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Naruto awoke to the sound of a loud music coming from the chair on which he had set his clothing on last night. The blonde jumped out of bed, which caused the comforter and bed sheets to fall off of the bed with him. Naruto mumbled under his breath about the pain, but ignored it and tried to focus on stopping the loud music. He slowly made his way over to the chair. Once he was at the chair and look at his clothing he saw that the music was coming from his cellphone and within a second thought flipped it open without even looking at who was calling him. He yawned and stretched his arm up before placing the phone by his ear.

"Hello?" He said in a tired voice.

"_Narutoooo."_ A sweet voice chimed on the other end. It was too sweet and sugary to be real. Naruto winced, but immediately recognized the owner of the voice.

"Ah, Sakura?" He asked, still with a tired voice. "What is it?"

"_Well… I'm standing outside the front entrance to Century Three Mall, it's nine…"_ there was a slight pause. _"Thirty-two a.m. and I wanted to know… WHERE THE HELL YOU ARE!!!" _The sweet, bubbly voice suddenly transformed into a loud, screeching siren that at the first sound of it made Naruto drop the phone and jump back slightly.

At this point, Sasuke, whom was trying to go back to sleep ever since the loud music started blaring throughout his entire room, decided that he was not going to get anymore sleep that morning and just gave up. He sat up in bed and scowled when he noticed that Naruto had pulled all of the covers off of him when he fell. Sasuke was going to get up and make himself breakfast, but when he heard more screaming coming from Naruto's phone, he thought it best to stay. Sakura could be pretty scary when enraged. The raven was happy that his parents had already gotten up and left for work, otherwise they would have not taken too kindly to all the noise.

"_I would have appreciated it if you would have at least fucking called to tell me that you couldn't make it!" _Sakura shouted on the other end.

"Sakura, I just woke up. I didn't mean to stand you up." Naruto tried to reason with the angry pink-haired girl, but it seemed as if she was in no mood today.

"_You admit it! You did stand me up! Obviously you care more about sleep than you fucking do about ME!!"_ With those last, loud words, Sakura hung up the phone and left a confused and still very tired blonde on the other end. Naruto looked at his phone as the dial tone starting playing instead of Sakura's voice and sighed. He then close it was let his body fall down flat on the ground.

"I can't believe I totally forgot about Sakura." Naruto whined as he ran his long fingers through his blonde locks.

'_I can.'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he yawned. Tears formed the corners of his eyes as he stretched. He gave a small smile of pleasure as he heard a few popping sounds coming from his shoulders. "She'll get over it." Sasuke said as he rose from his bed.

"Sasuke." Naruto said. He looked over at his friend from his spot on the floor.

"I don't really care if she's mad or not." Sasuke yawned again. "So, do you want breakfast?" Sasuke's quick change of subject seemed to have work, for Naruto quickly jumped to his feet and agree within a second.

"Ramen, please!" He said with his usual big grin.

"No ramen. Not for breakfast at least. Seriously Naruto. You keep eating like that and you'll get fat." Sasuke smirked at the blonde, who was moving closer toward him and the door. Sasuke also move closer to his bedroom door and opened it.

"I've been eating it for years! And I have great abs." Naruto smiled as he lifted up his shirt to show off his abs.

"I'd have to agree." Itachi said as Sasuke fully opened his bedroom door. Itachi was leaning against his own door and had his arms crossed over his chest. He smirked as the two younger boys looked at him in shock. His dark orbs peered through strands of long raven hair that fell over his handsome face as he let his head tilt to lean against the wooden door to his room as well.

"Don't sneak up on us like that, Itachi!" Naruto said as he let his shirt fall back down over his stomach. "I think I had a heart attack just now."

Itachi laughed and started walking down the hallway before the two boys. "That would take all the fun out of it." The three of them walked through the hall and down the steps. When they reached the kitchen, Itachi went over to the coffee machine to make his daily morning beverage. "So, who was that on the phone that woke me out of my peaceful sleep?" Itachi asked as he poured some coffee grounds into the machine. Naruto gave a small chuckle and scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh sorry." Naruto replied as he sat down at the kitchen table. "That was Sakura. I'm really sorry that she woke you up, but I forgot to meet her and she was really angry."

"Don't be sorry. I just wanted to know who it was." Itachi put the water from the pitcher into the top of the coffee maker and turned the machine on so that the water would boil. He hated waiting for the water to boil. It always took so long and he was too tired from just waking up to have much patience for the machine.

"I should really call her back. I mean to at least apologize." Naruto looked up at the ceiling as if he was looking at his cellphone through the wood and plaster.

Itachi snickered from were he stood. Naruto and Sasuke both glared at the older man. "What was that for?" Sasuke asked as he opened up the cupboard to find something edible to eat in the house.

"Oh, nothing. It's just," Itachi paused to let out a small chuckle. "I believe Sakura has you whipped." If Sasuke had not had such a firm hold on the cupboard door handles, then he would have fallen over. Naruto stared at Itachi for a good while. His shocked expression turned to that of pure loathing for the elder Uchiha. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted.

"I am not whipped! Especially by Sakura." Naruto retorted. "It's just my nature to be nice."

"And if you're not nice you don't _get any_, am I right?"

Naruto went to say something to that, but stopped himself when he realized what Itachi had said. He turned away from the two ravens and blushed fiercely. Sasuke closed his eyes and scowled, preparing himself for some ridiculous and perverted joke that Naruto would say about his sex life with Sakura. When he heard nothing from the blonde whatsoever, he turned to face his friend and saw the embarrassed look on his face. He could have sworn he heard the blonde mumble something under his breath.

"What was that, Naruto?" Itachi asked as he turned his attention away from the coffee machine so that he could face the blonde.

"I said we don't do that sort of thing." Naruto's voice was still low, but the two brothers could hear him this time. Needless to say, they were stunned. A pervert like Naruto not having sex with his girlfriend was a bit surprising. Given that they had only been going out for three months, but Sasuke still thought that some one like Naruto would have done it by now. The youngest Uchiha then realized how he had missed the fact how Naruto had mentioned something about Itachi "deflowering" him rather than just "raping" him, which would have been more appropriate if the blonde had sex with anyone at that point. The pale boy also thought Sakura looked and acted like the kind of whore that would throw herself at anyone who would come her way. But that was just his opinion.

"You mean you two aren't having sex." Itachi questioned.

"No. And stop talking about it so casually!" Naruto's blush became redder.

"Sex is a normal part of any healthy teenager's life, Naruto. Talking about it casually is natural. You sound like a virgin." Naruto's face turned bright red from ear to ear and from the top of his head to the base of his neck. Itachi stared in wonder as the blonde said nothing. "No. Naruto, you're a virgin. Aren't you?" Naruto remained silent. "You should really have sex. You'll be a mess for your woman if you don't know what you're doing."

"Can we just stop talking about this, please?" Sasuke said forcefully as he turned away to look back in the cupboard for some food. He found so Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and pulled it out. He then opened the refrigerator to find milk for the cereal.

"That is also such a virgin line." Itachi smirked. Sasuke scowled at his older brother. "You two really need to get laid. I had already done it several times by the time I was your age."

"I do not need the mental images of you having sex with some one permanently engraved into my mind, Itachi!" Sasuke shouted. His older brother just snickered.

"Actually, I can do without those too." Naruto added in. His face showed an expression of disgust. Itachi smirked.

"Naruto since you need to have sex, I feel that you should consider asking me to help you out in that department."

"Didn't I just say I could live without images of you having sex with some one? I'm sure _some one_ includes _myself_. So thanks, but no thanks." Naruto paused for a moment and then let a small smile slip on his face. "Besides when and if me and Sakura have sex, I want it to be special." Itachi rolled his eyes.

"Every virgin says that about sex. And they don't listen to the people with experience that say that it's not going to be good your first time."

Sasuke walked over to the kitchen table with two bowls filled with cereal and milk and set one down in front of his friend and one in front of himself. As he handed Naruto a spoon he wondered how the three of them came to be chatting casually about such a subject as one's first time sleeping with another person. And considering that the object of his desires was sitting right next to him he really did not want to discuss this matter.

Naruto did not even know he was gay. Let alone that the raven was crazy about him. He grumbled and started to eat his cereal, hoping that the conversation would be dropped and something else would take it place soon.

"You can't change my mind about this, no matter what you say." Naruto said as he waved his spoon in Itachi's general direction. The blonde then took a bite out of his own bowl of cereal.

"Stubborn as always." Itachi sighed as he poured himself a cup of the coffee that was finally ready. "Oh well. It's not my problem if she dumps you because you're inadequate in bed." The pale man then exited the kitchen and started walking toward the stairs. Naruto paused in his chewing and stared at the cereal floating in the milk with wide eyes. Sasuke noticed the change in attitude and looked over at his friend in concern.

Once the Itachi's footsteps died down, Naruto looked over at his best friend with an expression of horror on his handsome face. Sasuke was about to question as to why that was, when Naruto started talking.

"Sakura… Sakura wouldn't dump for something like that? W-Would she?"

Every fiber in his being told Sasuke that the statement that Itachi made was fully possible and that Sakura may, in fact, do something like that to the blonde boy beside him; but when Sasuke saw the terrified look on his best friend's face, he just didn't have the heart to crush his hopes. "No." Sasuke replied simply as he looked away from Naruto. He could not bear to look him in the eyes. "She wouldn't do that to you." It hurt to say such things to his friend. He wished that he was brave enough to come clean with his feelings, but he was too cowardly to admit it.

Naruto gave a small smile, not completely convinced by the raven's words. "I hope you're right." He said before he began to consume his cereal. "I should get out of here soon."

"You don't have to." Sasuke said as he eyed the tan boy out of the corner of his dark eyes.

"I know, but I just feel like I've overstayed my welcome."

"You're like family, Naruto. You can stay here as long as you want."

Naruto then put the bowl to his mouth and drank the remains of the milk left inside. "It's fine. Besides," Naruto paused and picked up his now empty bowl so that he could place it in the sink with the rest of the dirty dishes. "I have to face my parents sometime, don't I?"

Sasuke remained silent, but nodded. "Our door is always open if you need it, man." Naruto smiled and nodded. He placed the bowl in the sink and then ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs so that he could change out of the clothes that Sasuke had leant him and back into the ones he was wearing last night. It only took the blonde a minute or so to complete this task and it no time he was saying his goodbyes to Sasuke and rushing out of his front door.

Sasuke's gaze remained downcast toward the ground as soon as the blonde had left the house. It seemed so empty now that the blonde had left. He wished that he had insisted more that Naruto should stay, but once again his own cowardice got in the way of something he was too afraid to go for. Sasuke sighed as he made his way slowly into his living room. He dumped himself on the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

He then rolled over onto his side and stared at the portraits and fancy trinkets that decorated his walls. He sighed once again pulled a pillow over his head to cover the light that was shining through the window and into his eyes.

"So when did Naruto and Sakura start dating?" Itachi voice rang through Sasuke's ears and the raven-haired teenager was pulled out of his thoughts abruptly.

"Stop sneaking up on people!" Sasuke shouted as he threw the pillow that he was holding at his older brother. Itachi caught it and smirked. "God, you're like a fucking ninja(4)."

"The best there is. Now answer my question. When did they start dating?"

"I think it was back in July. You probably didn't hear about it because you were in Iowa with Kisame for most of July and August and then you left for school almost right after that." Itachi nodded, but he looked as if he was deep in thought.

"I thought that she would always ignore him. I wonder why she decided that she liked him."

"Fuck if I know." Sasuke grumbled.

"Now, now. Don't be such a sore loser, little brother. She got to him first fair and square. I told you before I left for Iowa that you should tell little Naruto about your feelings, now didn't I?" Itachi placed his hand on Sasuke head and ruffled his raven locks.

"You did. But I… I just couldn't."

"You'll lose him if you don't." Sasuke's eyes widen as far as they could possibly go at that statement. He suddenly sat up on the couch and looked at his brother with a look of fright and shock.

"Why… Why would you say something like that?" Itachi remained silent for a long while. He then removed his hand from atop Sasuke's head and then started to walk away from the younger boy. The raven-haired teenager still followed his older brother with his gaze. He began to panic when his brother did not say anything, but he then wished that he had remained silent and did not say anything at all.

"I said it because it's true." With those last words, Itachi disappeared up the stairs and left Sasuke alone once more.

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(1) Ugly red uniform indeed. And the shirts they give us are always three sizes too big. I wonder if that's because my boss thinks I'll get fat… er XP. I have a horrid self-image.

(2) Kisame looks human in this story. No blue skin… or gills… or any other fish-esque qualities.

(3) It actually happened to an old friend of mine. I forget which private school she went to though. I think it was in a different state now that I think about… :gets lost in thoughts:

(4) Don't need to say anything for that to be ironic XD.

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**I had to put a little ItaNaru in here. I think the pairing's funny, but nevertheless hot XD. And then there's mention of ItaKisa. That pairing is kind of freaky… but it's better because of the fact that the Kisame in my story is not fish-like.**

**Funny tid-bit… the conversation between Naruto, Itachi and Sasuke ((well not really Sasuke)) was inspired by an actually conversation I had with my older sister. A few of Itachi's lines are from her ((word for word)). So thank you sister! Always a gateway of inspiration to me XD ha, ha. Love her.**

**Long, huh? And it ends on such a sad note. Well… next chapter we get to see how Naruto takes the divorce of his parents and we get to meet the new man in his mother's life!!**


	4. It's Suspension

**I have to say, this chapter hates me. I've had to rewrite parts of this story three or four times. And it seems that it the parts with Sakura that I have to rewrite the most. Maybe I'm trying to capture her personality better ((even though I think she's still a little OOC in this)). I'm not really very satisfied with this, but I think it's the best that I am capable of doing. I was thinking about putting off my update for another week, but I feel like I've already had to make people wait long enough for this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If it were mine, I wouldn't have thought of the cool hitai-ate or the symbols… or the villages… You know what I think it's in its rightful place XD ha.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love, language and much drama. For the ones whom find this sort of thing to be "not their style," exits are indicated with glowing lights along the floor. Thank you for flying with us :smiles and waves: XD.**

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Sasuke had tried to contact Naruto over the rest of the weekend, but that was really hard considering he was working all Sunday and did not have much of a chance to call the blonde. The raven really wanted to know how he was doing, but try as he might, Naruto would not answer a single phone call the raven made to him. He had even gone to his house to pick him up for school, but his father told him that Naruto had already left.

Sasuke sighed as he made his way up the stairs that lead to the second level of Thomas Jefferson high school. He hoped that he would see Naruto in homeroom, and since the students were put into homeroom alphabetically by their last names that meant that they were in the same homeroom. He opened the dull green doors and walked down the hallway. He stopped at his locker to replace the binders he had in his bag with the ones in his locker. He closed his locker and slowly made his way toward his homeroom. He was surprised to find a familiar head of bright blonde hair sitting in its regular seat. A small smile slowly crept onto his face.

"Naruto." Sasuke said as he walked up to the blonde. He placed his bag on the desk beside the one the blonde was sitting in and sat down next to him. "Hey, man, what's up? I tried to call you yesterday, but you didn't answer—" Sasuke cut himself off there when he saw the sad look on his friend's face. "Naruto?" he asked slowly.

"It's official. They're getting a divorce." Naruto said sullenly as he hide his head in his folded arms that rested on his desk. "And my mom already moved out." Sasuke knew of what he spoke and gave his friend a look of sympathy.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked as he let his head rest on his hands.

"Not really." Naruto said honestly. He looked up at his friend and tried to put on a smile, but Sasuke could see it was completely forced. "My parents forced me to talk with them about it and they decided that it would be the best thing for _all of us_." Naruto practically spat out the last part of his statement and then grumbled as he tried to hide his face in his arms once again.

"Naruto." Sasuke said softly as he sat up straight in his chair. Naruto seemed to have not heard his friend at all though.

"And the worse part is that my mom is moving in with… _that guy_." Naruto paused to give his friend an annoyed look. "And she wants me to meet him."

"That's a little cruel. Especially after everything that's happened."

"Tell me about it." Naruto let out a loud groan and stretched his arms out in front of him. "I don't want to meet him, Sasuke!" the blonde whined. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friend's childish mannerisms.

"Naruto, you do realize that you're going to be eighteen soon. Don't be such a child. You know you can decide for yourself if you want to meet or not." Naruto's expression turned to that of anger.

"I _do_ want to see that son of a bitch, though. I really want him to feel bad for breaking up my family and putting us through such hell." The blonde paused for a moment. "I want him to be miserable."

"Revenge won't solve anything(1)."

"It'd make me feel better, though."

"All right. Let's make a compromise. Meet the guy and if afterwards you still think he deserves it, we'll both kill him. Sound good?" Naruto let a laugh escape from his lips and he gave his friend a smile.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

"Anytime." Sasuke returned the smile. There was a short silence, but then a thought struck the raven. "Hey, did you ever patch things over with Sakura?"

"I tried, but she's still angry at me." Naruto sighed and sat up, no longer feeling like he needed to hide his face. "She eventually stopped answering my calls and I eventually stop trying to call her after that. I decided to ask Ino if she would talk to her, but Ino said that I shouldn't waste my time trying to fix things with Sakura."

"Why would she say something like that? Aren't Sakura and Ino best friends?" Sasuke gave a look of pure confusion. Naruto was about as confused on the matter as his best friend.

"That's what I thought. Maybe they had a fight or something. I don't know. Girls are too complicated. Why do they have to be so bi-polar all the time?" Sasuke laughed at his friend's comment and nodded in agreement. Then, as if on cue, Sakura made her way into the boys' homeroom. The homeroom teacher stopped her before she could get very far into the classroom though.

"Miss Haruno, the bell will be ringing soon. You should be in your own homeroom now, or you'll be marked tardy." He warned the pink-haired girl. When Sasuke and Naruto heard the familiar last name, they both turned around to see if it really was Sakura.

"I know. I'll only be a minute." Sakura gave the teacher a sweet smile that made him flush. He let her do as she pleased and Sakura came running over to Naruto. "Naruto!" She said as she hugged the blonde tightly. "Confused" would not cover the complete feeling that Naruto felt at the moment, but he was a little too preoccupied to think of a better word for it. "I'm sorry, baby. I overreacted the other day. Forgive me!" Sakura whined as she snuggled her head into the blonde's back. Naruto gave her a surprised look, but then smiled at his girlfriend.

"Ah… sure, Sakura." The pink-haired girl gave the blonde a small peck on his tanned cheek and then let him go.

"I gotta go now, love. See ya after school."

Sakura smiled at Naruto and glanced momentarily at Sasuke who was ignoring the whole situation. She smiled and rushed out of the classroom. As the two boys sat there in bewilderment, Sakura ran down the stairs and headed toward the room where TJTV, the school's morning show that featured students reading off announcements for the day and the rest of the week as well, was filmed. She was always down there since she was an announcer, but she was not always doing the announcements. Sakura saw it as a way of avoiding spending a boring fifteen minutes in homeroom. Besides, Ino was always down in the TJTV room as well.

"Hey, Ino-pig." Sakura said with a mocking tone. "How are thin—" Before she could continue on, Sakura was then cut off by the blonde.

"I can't believe what you're doing to Naruto." Ino said not looking up from her computer screen. She was currently working a few graphics that would be seen right before TJTV started. "It's just cruel to play him like that."

Sakura looked wide-eyed at the blonde girl sitting before a computer, which the glow from the monitor made Ino's back look more like a silhouette of her body rather than it was actually her. "Wh… What?" Sakura asked as she stood frozen in her spot. The pink-haired girl's body began to shake and she could feel her heartbeat increasing with her fear and anxiety. "I'm doing nothing of the sort."

"Don't lie to me." Ino said forcefully as she continued to stare at the computer screen. The blonde's hands had stopped moving and were clenched tightly as she placed them at both ends of the keyboard, which was placed in front of the monitor. "I over heard you talking to that group of girls at the mall on Saturday. I was about to go up and ask you why you weren't with Naruto when I heard you say, and I quote, 'It's not like I really like him. I mean, I'm going to dump him soon anyway. Besides, I still like Sasuke.'"

Sakura's expression became completely and utterly shocked as she heard those words come from her best friend's mouth. She was sure that no one she knew was around when she had say that. Sakura remembered that after she had hung up on Naruto, she had decided to look around the mall on her own for a while, but had run into a group of close acquaintances of hers. They did not think very highly of Naruto and the pink-haired girl had accidentally revealed that she was not in love with Naruto and that she did still like Sasuke. Not that she had meant to, but the annoying girls were bugging her to no end on why she continued to date the blonde-haired boy.

"It's wrong!" She said forcefully. "It's wrong to lead him on like this." Ino finally stopped what she was doing completely and turned to face Sakura. The bell for homeroom rang loudly throughout the school. The two girls glared at each other and the sound of the Pledge of Allegiance could be heard. No one in the TJTV had to stand and place their hands over their hearts during this time, because no one was ever around to force them to do it.

"I don't think it's any of your business what I do to Naruto." Sakura narrowed her emerald eyes at the blonde. She knew that Ino would not believe her if she tried to lie about it and that the blonde would only bitch and complain more if she tried to avoid the subject. A student standing by the door that separated the TJTV computer lab and the actual set of TJTV set quietly scolded them to be quiet. After silently nodding to the student they returned to glaring at each other.

"Naruto is my friend too." Ino said in a hushed voice. "And I'll be damned if I let you hurt and use him." Sakura began to panic. If Ino would tell Naruto, then he would surely dump her. And for some reason, even though the pink-haired girl had told herself and those girls at the mall that she was not in love with Naruto, she did not want to break up with him. She quickly tried to turn the tables on Ino.

"Are you… Are you _jealous_?" She asked after noticing how protective Ino had become of the blonde boy. "You are, aren't you? Oh won't it be funny to see the look on his face when he hears that little Ino has a crush on him." Sakura laughed softly as she stared at the blonde girl in front of her. Ino blushed, but thanked some greater power that it was dark in the room so that Sakura could not see it. Her light blue eyes narrowed into thin slits and she growled under her breath.

"I'm going to tell him what you're doing."

Sakura had to think quickly. She had to think of something to say to stop Ino from telling Naruto anything. Sakura thanked God that she was as smart as she was, for she was able to think up something very quickly. "And you think he'll believe you. I control that boy. I can just twist your words so that he'll think that you're simply trying to steal him away from me." Ino's glare was filled with hate for the girl standing before her. "So go ahead and try. I'll enjoy the competition." Sakura then walked away from the blonde and stood by the window in the wall that divided the computer lab and the set.

Sakura herself was surprised at the cruel words that escaped from her mouth. She hadn't meant to sound so cruel, but she needed to say something in order to stop Ino from telling her boyfriend what she had said. The pink-haired cursed at herself for having ever said those things about the blonde-haired boy. She didn't mean to say them, but at the time she did not want those girls to mock her because of Naruto.

Ino continued to glare at the pink-haired girl. Her elegant hands were clenched tightly into fists. Her manicured nails were digging into her skin.

"He deserves so much more than you." Ino whispered to herself. She decided that she would have to wait until after school to tell Naruto about Sakura's horrible scheme. Hopefully she could get to him before Sakura did.

The last bell of the day rang. The students of Thomas Jefferson ran through the halls, thankful that the horrid Monday was finally over and done with and that they could go home. Naruto made his way to his locker and saw Sasuke already at his. He sighed as he leaned against the dull green locker beside his friend's.

"I don't want to go home." Naruto whined as he ran his fingers through his unruly hair. "My mom is going to pick me up and take me to meet that… _guy_."

"I'm sure it won't be too bad." Sasuke said as he closed his locker and gave his friend a small smile. Before the blonde could respond to the raven's kind statement Sakura came up behind Naruto and attached herself onto him. The action almost caused Naruto to fall into Sasuke but luckily he was able to stop himself before that happened.

"Naruto!" Sakura almost sung. She gave the blonde a smile as he turned around to face his girlfriend.

"Sakura." He said in an unenthusiastic tone. "You've got to stop doing that. One of these days I'll fall."

"I keep telling you, Naruto. I'll fix you up if you get hurt." She then made circles with her index finger on the blonde's chest. Before Naruto could reply, Ino stopped a few feet in front of the group and stared wide eyed at them.

"Oh, hey Ino!" Naruto called out to her with a smile. Ino was somewhat revealed to her his voice and see his smile. She knew that Sakura had not had a chance yet to screw with the blonde boy's head. Sakura stared wide-eyed at her best friend. She had to stop Naruto from listening to Ino. She then moved her gaze from the blonde girl and then turned back to Naruto as she thought of what had happened in the morning.

"Naruto. I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll give her the wrong idea." Sakura said to her boyfriend in a loud enough tone so that everyone in a mile radius could hear her. Both Sasuke and Naruto gave the pink-haired girl a look of confusion. Ino froze in place. She knew what Sakura was going to do and she needed to stop it.

"Naruto! Don't listen to her!" She shouted as she walked closer to the couple. Sasuke saw Sakura smirk and he immediately knew that she was up to something.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked after glancing up at Ino once more.

"Ino's in love with you, Naruto. You'll make her think she has a chance." Ino held out her hand about to grab onto Naruto shirt but froze in place when Sakura said those intentionally cruel words. Ino's pale blue eyes glance down at the ground: they were as wide as they could possibly be. Her body began to shake as Naruto's gaze turned back to her. She could not handle his stare. She glanced up at the blonde-haired boy only to run away from the group a mere second later. As she passed Sasuke, he could see the tears in her eyes.

"Ino!" The pale boy called after her as he ran to catch up with the blonde girl.

"Ino! Wait!" Naruto called as well. He had full intent to run after her as well, but Sakura grabbed tightly onto her arm.

"Let her go, Naruto." She said forcefully. "I don't want you giving her the wrong impression. You're my boyfriend!" Sakura said those words with some real emotion behind them. She surprised herself once she had finished speaking them. It was very confusing as to why Sakura did not want to give Naruto up.

"But Sakura—"

"'But Sakura' nothing!!" Sakura shouted as her grip tightened. "You love me don't you?! I don't want you to be taken away from me!!" Sakura was indeed a very good actress, if her being cast in lead rolls in the past four plays and musical said anything. Naruto fell for her fake tears like a ton of bricks. Sakura smirked as she buried her head into the tan boy's chest.

"Sakura. You know I do. But she's your friend. You should apologize to her."

"I… I will, Naruto." Sakura then ran in the direction that Ino and Sasuke had run off in. Naruto then realized that Sasuke, who was his ride home, had left and that he did not know where he went or when the Uchiha would be coming back. He then realized that he his only other option for transportation, which happened to be the school bus, was going to be leaving any second now.

"Shit! I gotta catch the bus then!" The blonde then ran down two flights of stairs and out the back door and was thankful that he just made it to his bus. He had not taken it all year so he was very glad that it was still at the same stop as it had been last year. As he took his seat on the big, yellow bus he hoped that everything would be sorted out with Ino. He took a mental note to call her after he got back home from visiting his mom and that guy she was with.

"Ino! Stop!!" Sasuke shouted as he grabbed onto her wrist. The athletic girl had run all the way to the Auxiliary Gym on the first floor and did not seem the least bit tired. Sasuke on the other hand was breathing a little harder than normal. Ino was lucky that she was on the soccer team. It helped her keep in shape and made her able to run without being exhausted afterward.

"…" The blonde-haired girl kept silent as she stood in place. She did not know what to say. Part of her had wished that Naruto had run after her, but Sakura has been right. Naruto was wrapped around her finger. She clenched her fists tightly.

"Why did you run off? Was Sakura telling the truth?" Sasuke asked as he still tried to return his breathing to normal.

"…" Ino let her head droop down slightly and her shoulder shook. "Yes. It's true." She paused; her voice was shaky and Sasuke knew that she must have been softly crying at this point. "I like him. I really like him."

Sasuke was shocked to hear those words come from the blonde girl. Ino turned around to look Sasuke in the eye and the pale boy let go of her thin wrist. Tears were streaming down from her pale blue eyes onto her cheeks. "But… I thought you like Shikamaru." Sasuke stated slowly.

"Shikamaru is my best friend. So I was a little concerned when Temari started liking him… but that was only because I know him and she didn't seem like his type." Ino paused to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "I really like Naruto. That's why I wanted to talk to him before Sakura could." Sasuke did not understand why that was important, but he felt that he was about to find out something very important.

"Why did you need to talk to him?"

"Because… Because Sakura's playing him!" Ino blurted out. Sasuke's dark eyes became wide with shock. "And he deserved to know. I needed to tell him before Sakura could have a chance to say something like that to him, because now… now he won't… he won't believe me." Ino began to sob again.

Sasuke put his pale hands on Ino's shoulders to comfort her. "Ino, how is Sakura playing Naruto?" The blonde-haired girl looked up at him with her light blue eyes.

"She… She's trying to get to you by dating him." Ino said slowly. Sasuke's dark eyes showed his obvious surprise. He had known that Sakura _had_ liked him at one point, but he thought that those days were over. Itachi suspicions of the girl seemed to have more proof behind them than Sasuke had realized.

"Me?" Sasuke asked in shock.

"Yes. She wants you. And she doesn't care if Naruto gets hurt in the process. She just wants to have you all to herself!" Ino sniffled and wiped her eyes once again. "You should talk to him, Sasuke. He'll believe you."

"He would believe you too. You're his friend as well, Ino."

"Not after that act that Sakura pulled on him. He'll never believe me now. Sakura's already twisted his mind to believe that I would say something like that to make him like me. That bitch."

"That's not nice to say about your friend, Ino-pig." Sakura said as she walked into the Auxiliary Gym. She slowly made her way toward the center of the gym to where Sasuke and Ino stood. The blonde did not look the girl in front of her in the eyes. She chose to look at the ground and avoid eye contact; Sasuke glared at her through the thin slits that his dark eyes were narrowed into. "Oh Sasuke. That's such a cold stare. Please don't tell me that you believe her lies?" Sakura said in an overly sweet voice.

"I do. She's telling the truth." He snapped.

Sakura flinched slightly at his harsh tone, but recovered quickly. She looked at the pale boy with a determined expression and rubbed her shoulder with her small hand. Sakura knew Sasuke was too smart and too loyal to Naruto to ever believe a single word that she could think of to say to him. She sighed and frowned at Sasuke. "You have to believe me when I say I don't want to hurt Naruto."

"Why should I?"

"Cause it's the truth!" Sakura shouted as she let both of her hands drop to her sides.

"How can I believe that when I know that you're going to hurt my best friend because you still like me?"

"…" The pink-haired girl paused when she heard those words soaked with hatred coming from Sasuke's thin mouth. She had hoped that she would have found the two of them before Ino had a chance to tell Sasuke about that. "Sasuke… It's not like that. You have to believe me. I would never hurt Naruto. I really do like him." Sakura said in a pleading tone. Sakura continued to walk closer to the two until she was standing right next to them. She reached out her hand to touch Sasuke's arm, but he quickly smacked it away from him.

"Don't touch me. You make me sick." If looks could kill, Sakura would have been incinerated that very moment and then slowly skinned alive until she was dead. Sakura stood there dumbfounded for a moment.

Sasuke then began to lead Ino away from the pink-haired girl. Ino then grabbed onto the pale boy's hand that was still on her shoulder.

"Thank you." She whispered to him. He nodded to her and continued to walk away from Sakura.

"Wait! You two haven't won yet! Naruto will still believe me! He loves me! I can't manipulate him to do anything for me! I could tell him that you two are plotting to get me away from him and he'll hate you both soon!!" Sasuke then stopped dead in his tracks. Ino looked up at him in confusion. Sakura was a bit surprised at her desperation as well, but the pink-haired girl was stubborn and she did not want to lose this battle, sort to speak, or Naruto.

"Stay here." He said quietly to Ino.

He then slowly walked over to Sakura and she had a triumphant smile on her face. That is until Sasuke punched her right on her left cheek. The raven put so much force behind his punch that Sakura was actually sent flying a few feet back before she landed on the ground. Sakura slowly sat up and held her left cheek tenderly with her hand. She looked up at Sasuke in horror as he walked closer to her. Her whole body began to quiver in fear that she would be hit again.

"Stay away from him." Sasuke warned the pink-haired girl. Sakura could have sworn she saw his dark eyes turn red for a moment. Sasuke was about to walk away when the door swung open again. The gym teacher came through the door and saw Sasuke with a clenched fist and Sakura on the floor, almost in tears.

"What happened here?!" he shouted at Sasuke.

"He… He punched me in the face!" Sakura yelled as she ran up to the gym teacher in tears. "He was jealous that I was dating his best friend instead of him and when I told him that I didn't want to date him, he became crazy and hit me."

"That a god damn lie!" Ino shouted as she ran up to the others.

"Watch your language, Miss Yamanaka!" the teacher shouted. "Mr. Uchiha, come with me to the principal's office. Miss Haruno, Miss Yamanaka, you two come as well." The teacher then pulled Sasuke by his wrist gently and pushed him in the direction of the door slightly. Sasuke looked back at Sakura who was smirking viciously behind the teacher. Ino also glared at Sakura as her fists hung at her sides. The four made their way to the main office and then the teacher made Sakura and Sasuke go into the principal's office first. Ino stayed behind.

"What's going on?" The principal asked as the gym teacher made Sakura and Sasuke sit down in the two empty chairs before the principal.

"It seems that Mr. Uchiha hit Miss Haruno." The principal's expression turned from annoyed to surprised. He then glared at the Uchiha boy.

"Is this true?" he asked.

"…" Sasuke did not answer at first. He was too angry at everything that had happened. "Yeah, but she really deserved it! She—"

"I don't care what she did. This is serious, Mr. Uchiha. I'm afraid that I'll have to suspend you from school for the rest of the week."

"But—!" Sasuke was cut off before he could reply.

"Do you want me to extend the suspension?!" Sasuke said nothing and the principal nodded. "Very well. You may leave." Sasuke then stormed out of the office, but Sakura lingered. She made sure to fake a sniffle and hold her very, _very_ red cheek tenderly. "Are you all right, Miss Haruno?" he asked softly.

"I… I'm fine. Thank you." Sakura then exited the office, but did not let her act drop until she passed by Ino and Sasuke. She paused to look at them and she was chilled throughout her entire body when she saw the glares they gave her. She turned away from them and then quickly ran out of the main office and into the lobby. Sasuke and Ino glared at the door in which the pink-haired girl exited.

"I'm sorry about this whole thing, Sasuke." Ino said as her gaze returned to her feet. "You got suspended because I had to make such a big deal out of something she said."

"It's not your fault. Sakura deserved everything she got and more. I'm just glad that you showed me what she was up to." Sasuke gave the blonde a small smile, but as Ino stared up at him, she found it hard to return the smile. The gym teacher then came out of the principal's office and handed Ino a slip of paper.

"You'll be attending detention tomorrow and Thursday for cursing at a teacher, Miss Yamanaka." The gym teacher then left the main office and Ino stared down at the slip of paper. She crinkled it slightly as she held onto it a bit too tightly. Sasuke patted her shoulder.

"Do you need a ride home?" I know that Sakura usually drove you home." Ino nodded and then stood up from the chair she was sitting in. Sasuke took his cell phone out of his pocket and pushed a few button, attempting to call Naruto.

When no answer came, the raven glanced down at the phone with a concerned glance, but sighed and put his phone back into his pocket. He figured that Naruto was probably afraid that his mother was calling him and refused to answer or he still had his phone on mute, since students were not really allowed to have their cell phones in school (but most of them did anyways and just kept them on silent to fool the teachers).

"I guess he already went home." Sasuke mused mostly to himself. He had then realized that Ino was patiently waiting next to him for the sign to move and, with another sigh, he then lead her out of the main office and down to his car. The two both remained quiet the rest of the way, since both of them were so angry and for the fact that neither of them had really ever hung out before.

Though after this whole experience, they both thought that they would be seeing a lot more of each other.

(1) HYPOCRITE!! XD ha, ha. Sorry. Having Sasuke say that line is such irony. I'm good now.

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**Dun, dun, dun… Did anyone see the Sakura thing coming? She's a bit… confusing in this fic. I'm sorry Sakura and Sakura fans. I don't hate her much anymore. I like her a lot more than I used to and please do not take this fic in any way as Sakura Bashing. I'm not. Sakura is very important in this fic and all of her actions will be explained when the time comes. Forgive me Sakura! I'll make it up to you. You'll start having a super huge role in _Nothing But Air_!! Ha, ha… bribery XD.**

**And one-sided NaruIno. I guess the pairing isn't too crack. Well nevertheless, I think it's a cute pairing. Poor Naruto. Everyone's after you. Sakura, Sasuke, Itachi and now Ino. I feel for you XD ha, ha ((actually, I'm a little jealous)).**

**Yeah… I didn't get to Kushina's new lover like I said I would. This chapter was just going to be way too long with it in. Don't worry it will be in the next chapter. So I was thinking that I would write an oneshot for whomever can guess who her new lover. I had one of these contests in my last story, _Give Me That Sunshine_, and I wanted to do another one. Clue: He's a character in the Naruto series and he is older than Naruto. Have fun guessing :hearts:!!**


	5. It's Dinner

**I would like to congratulate _search in all the wrong places_ on winning the "Name Kushina's New Lover" contest :streamers flying and music playing:. Okay enough of that. Technically, she was the second person to answer the question correctly, but the first person did not response back to me, causing me to wait to post up this chapter. Normally I only accept the first person to answer correctly, but not a lot of people entered this contest and I really didn't want to wait any longer to post this chapter. I'll be posting up your oneshot within a week.**

**Okay this is the chapter where we get to meet the _other man_. I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while. I've wanted to write it for so long X3. Cause I feel that it's so funny.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If they were mine, I think it would end up forgetting all about cool action-y stuff and focus more on… well… smut. Yeah XD.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and Language. You don't like this sort of thing… :pause: Yeah, I got nothing. Just don't read. Sorry… I thought something witty was coming to me.**

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Naruto sat on his couch with his arms crossed over his chest. His father was still at work and therefore the large house was empty and quiet. He hated it when it was like this, but the blonde felt that he would have to get used to this feeling since everything in his life was going to be different and difficult for a while.

Even though he was waiting for his mother to arrive, he could not help but momentarily think about how things had gone over with Ino. He hoped that Sakura had apologized to her and that everything was fine between them. He also wanted to know if what Sakura told him about Ino's crush on him had been true or just a rumor. The blonde girl did look really upset when Sakura has said that, which made the tan boy very confused. He sighed and slumped farther into the couch.

The doorbell rang loudly through the house and Naruto stood from his spot on the couch and stared at the door. He knew it could only be one person, but he still hoped with all his might that something would happen so that he would not have to meet this new man in his mother's life.

The blonde opened his front door, anyway, to see the familiar long, red hair of his mother. He reluctantly opened the door all the way to see his mother smiling at him beautifully. She immediately took him into her arms and hugged him tightly.

"I've only been away for one day and I already miss you so much!" Kushina said sweetly as she lightly rocked her body and her son's back and forth. Naruto was astonished at his mother's strength. He gasped when he realized that she was hugging him a little too hard.

"Mom." Naruto said as he tried to breath. Her tight grip seemed to make it harder for oxygen to get into his lungs. "You're killing me."

"Oh! Sorry, sweetie." Kushina said as she let go of her son and step back a step or two. "If I miss you this much, I'll just have to make it a priority to visit you every day. Maybe twice a day." Kushina giggled and ruffled her son's blonde locks.

"Then why don't you just move back in? You can see me all you want." Kushina stopped laughing and looked at her son with a forced smile. She knew how hard this whole even had been on the blonde boy, but it was out of her hands and she could do absolutely nothing about it now. She believed that Naruto would simply just have to deal with what happened and except it. But that is easier said than done. Especially with one as stubborn as her young son.

"Naruto, we've discussed this already. Now come on. He stayed behind at the house and I don't want to keep him waiting any longer."

'_No one would want that.'_ Naruto thought to himself with such sarcasm. Kushina then lead the tall boy out of his house and to her silver Mitsubishi Eclipse. Even though it was an older car, his mother had always kept it very clean so that it looked as if it was still brand new. Naruto got into the car and looked out the window without saying a word to his mother. One could say he was being childish, but Naruto did not care. He was so angry with his mother for doing this to him. He tried to get his mind off of the aggravating topic and let his mind wonder back to Sasuke, Ino and Sakura and the incident that happened right after school. Though, after several moments, the tan boy realized that the change in topic had not helped much with his anger and confusion.

As the blonde's mind wondered, Kushina looked over at her son and frowned. She really hoped that he would have understood the situation and at least pretended to be excited or happy. She already missed seeing that funny grin that would usually be plastered on his handsome, young face. With a heavy sigh, she started the car and began their long drive to her new house and her new lover.

--

Kushina pulled into the driveway of her new home that she shared with the new man in her life and truth be told, Naruto was a little surprised. Whomever Kushina was involved with now must be pretty well off to have afforded a house like the one that stood in front of the young blonde.

The house was roughly about a thirty minute drive from his own home and he could not believe houses like these could be found anywhere around Pittsburgh. Of course it was actually only slightly larger than what a normal house would be, but, considering the vast amount of small houses in Pleasant Hills, this slightly large house would look like a mansion to some one like Naruto.

The blonde looked at the residence with a look of disgust to hide his true astonishment as he exited his mother's car. Kushina got out of the vehicle soon after her son and walked up beside him. She smiled and then turned her attention over to the tall boy beside her.

"Ready?" she asked him, hoping that in the short thirty minutes it took to get here Naruto would have changed his mind about the whole situation.

"No." Naruto grumbled. Kushina's hopes were shattered and the older woman let out a sigh.

"Come on." The redhead then grabbed onto the tan boy's wrist tightly and led him toward the porch that sat in front of the rest of the large structure. Naruto slouched and turned his gaze away from the front door. He wanted to avoid eye contact with his mother's _lover_ for as long as he possibly could. He instead chose to focus on the large porch around him. The blonde thought that it was just a little too big, but his thoughts were torn away from the matter for Kushina had just pressed the doorbell to the large house. Naruto could hear the shuffling of feet just beyond the wooden door.

Naruto pursed his lips into a thin line and stared at the door in anticipation. He just wanted to get this over and done with already. Suddenly the door opened to reveal the man that had taken his mother away from his father. Naruto groaned inwardly when he saw the man.

He looked like a nice guy.

'_Shit.'_ Naruto thought to himself as the guy smiled. The man in front of him wore his long, dark brown hair up in a high ponytail and had a scar that went over part of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He pulled down the bottom of his black shirt and rolled up the sleeves to his elbows. He gave a warm smile to the two at his door. Kushina returned to smile and hugged him as she planned a small peck on his lips. Naruto had to control himself when he saw his mother kiss him momentarily. As his fists hung at his sides, he clenched them so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The blonde realized what exactly he was doing only moments before he broke through the skin on his palms. He then chose to look away from his mother and this man and place his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Hello, Iruka." Kushina smiled as she pulled away from the brunette.

"Hello." He smiled. "And this must be your son. Naruto, right?" The blonde was about to hurl. This guy was almost too friendly.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" Kushina stepped back and pushed Naruto a little closer to the doorway. "Naruto, this is Umino Iruka. Iruka, this is my one and only son, Naruto." Kushina smiled in hopes that her son standing next to her would smile back to the man. His mother's smile only made the blonde frown more.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Naruto." Iruka held out his hand for Naruto to take, but the blonde only glared. The brunette gave a nervous chuckle when Naruto refused to move or even speak. The intense glare was almost too much for the older man to handle.

"Naruto!" Kushina said forcefully. The blonde huffed and looked away. "I'm so sorry, Iruka. He's normally not like this."

"It's fine, Kushina. I can understand." Iruka gave a sweet smile that went completely unnoticed by the blonde boy standing in front of him. His smile wavered slightly into a nervous sigh, but he let the two into the house anyway. "Dinner's already so we can just go and sit down in the dining room." Iruka said as the two removed their shoes and continued to follow him into the large house.

Naruto held in his bewilderment as he walked through the house. It was very hard to not gawk in awe at the sheer size of the rooms. The dining room was just ridiculous to the blonde. The table was incredibly large. It seemed stupid to him to have just the three of them eat at this table fit for at least twenty. The blonde sat down at the table nonetheless and his mother sat beside him. She gave her son a cold stare.

He merely huffed and turned away from her. Kushina could not help but feel hurt by her son's actions, though she expected just as much from him, if not less.

"You could at least pretend to be happy." Kushina snapped at her son.

"I'm not happy though." Naruto snapped right back.

The two exchange vicious glares with the other until Iruka entered into the room and began to set down several plate of delicious looking food. Kushina stood up from her chair to help the brunette out with the food. Naruto took that time to look around the room some more. It was very nicely decorated and Naruto wondered if Iruka had decorated the house by himself, since it seemed too nice for a guy to have done.

He was pulled out of his wondering thoughts once again when a giggling Kushina and a smiling Iruka came back into the dining room. Naruto's heart clenched. He had never seen his mother this happy, even when he was a child. The blonde looked down at the table so that he would not have to see the happy couple laughing and talking between each other.

Soon the plates of food were all set out on the large table and Iruka and Kushina sat down, one on either side of Naruto. The blonde felt like he was trapped now. He groaned softly so that neither of the two adults would hear.

"Dig in." Iruka said happily to the two people beside him. Both he and Kushina began to place food on their plates. Naruto did not move for a moment, but that was fixed once his mother elbowed him "gently" in his side. The blonde winced and rubbed his aching ribs. He saw the fierce look his mother gave him and decided that he should _try_ to eat this man's cooking so that he would escape another bruise from his mother at the very least. Besides, if it were poisoned, at least Naruto would not have to suffer through this little dinner any longer.

Once the three of them were finished placing food on their plates, they began to eat… silently. It was almost unbearably quiet in the room and the tension was getting to both Kushina and Iruka. The brunette decided to break the ice with the blonde beside him.

"So, Naruto. Your mother tells me that you're in your last year of high school." Iruka said with a smile. Naruto just continued to twirl his spoon around the pile of mashed garlic potatoes on his plate and to not grant the scarred man with an answer. "She also says that your eighteenth birthday is coming up. Is there anything that you really want?"

"So are you bribing me for my approval?" Naruto said as he glared at the brunette from the corners of his eyes.

"Naruto!" Kushina hissed at her son.

"Whatever." Naruto scoffed at his mother and took a small bite of the potatoes. They were delicious, but he still gave a look of disgust in hopes of hurting the older man's feelings a little more. The redhead woman beside him just shook her head and glared at her immature son.

"So… You're turning eighteen." Iruka once again tried to start a friendly conversation between himself and Naruto. "That's gonna be fun. You'll be considered at adult and have lots of responsibilities."

"I'll also be going away to college. _Far_ away." Naruto replied after taking a bite of roast beef. It also tasted good, but the blonde would not let any of the adults know that he liked it.

Kushina sighed to herself about her son's response. Iruka pretended not to notice Naruto's obviously annoyed tone. "Where did you apply to g—" Naruto actually cut off the brunette before he could finish.

"So how old are you?" he asked as he set down his fork and knife.

"Naruto!" Kushina once again warned her son. Iruka then waved his hand in front of his face.

"I don't mind, Kushina." Iruka replied with a smile. "I am twenty-nine(1)."

"Wow, mom." Naruto said with false excitement. "He's only eleven years older than me. And about half your age." The blonde smirked at the scarred man beside him and waited to see the embarrassment wash over his face, but it never came.

"That's it, Naruto!" Kushina shouted as she slammed her elegant hands down on the wooden table and rose to her feet. "Stop being such a god damn child!"

"I am a child!" Naruto shouted back as he also stood from his seat.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me! I'm your mother!"

"What kind of _mother_ cheats on her husband?!" Kushina's expression of anger vanished from her face and she was left with one of shock and horror. Her eyes grew wide and then she turned her attention away from her son. The blonde-haired boy then ran away from the table and out of the dining room all together. The slam of the front door could be heard even in the dining room.

"N-Naruto!" Kushina called out to her son as she went to walk away from the table.

"Wait." Iruka said as he stood from his seat. "Let me talk to him." Kushina was about to protest to this decision when, Iruka cut her off and hushed the redhead. "Trust me."

Kushina stared at him for a moment, but nodded. The brunette then ran out of the dining room and toward the front door.

Iruka found the blonde sitting down on the steps that connected the large porch to the walkway, which lead the long cement driveway to the large house. When Naruto heard the front door close, he turned around quickly to look at the older man. Naruto then turned back around to wipe the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes and then looked up at Iruka with a cold glare.

"Get away from me." Naruto said in an icy tone.

"Naruto, I can understand how you feel." Iruka tried to reason with the blonde, but Naruto seemed to not want to listen at all.

"No! You don't know!" Naruto shouted as he stood up once again and began to walk away from the porch.

"Naruto, please. Just talk to me." The scarred man insisted.

"Talk to you? I barely know you!" Naruto retorted. "I just recently found out that my mother was cheating on my father with some one who is young enough to be my _brother_ and then I had to witness them agreeing on getting a divorce. All that happened in the last three days! _Three days_! Now my mom is moved out of the house and I'm supposed to act as if nothings happened! Oh. Right. And I'm supposed to like a complete stranger, I mean _home-wrecker_, who destroyed my family!" Naruto started to breathe heavily. He hadn't taken a breath through that entire rant and now he was a little over exerted.

Iruka gave the blonde a sympathetic smile. "I guess I really am a home-wrecker." He gave a small chuckle. Naruto just glared at the brunette.

"Why did you choose my family?" Naruto said as tears began to fall from his eyes. Iruka walked a little closer to the blonde, the understanding look still in place on his handsome face.

"I never meant to choose your family." Iruka replied. "I didn't even know Kushina was married when I met her."

"Liar." Naruto sobbed out. He tried to stop his tears, but all of his pent up stress and anger were making him too emotionally unstable to do such a thing.

"It's the truth." Iruka was now standing right in front of the blonde. Naruto noticed for the first time that he was only about an inch or less shorter than Iruka. He really seemed like he was around Naruto's age now, which did not make the tan boy feel any better. Iruka then placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Naruto. For everything that I've done. You're a good kid and you didn't deserve any of these horrible things to happen to you. I hope that you can forgive me one day."

Naruto's lower lip quivered slightly. Iruka really was a good guy. He cursed to himself and wiped the corners of his eyes once more. "Why can't you be a jerk? I want to hate you so much, but it's hard when you act like a nice guy."

"It's not an act." Iruka chuckled at the blonde's words. The sudden noise caused Naruto to whip his up quickly to see where it had come from. Naruto would not admit it at the time, but Iruka did have a face that was meant to smile. When he thought about that, he remembered how both he and his father, Minato, had faces that were also meant to smile. The blonde wondered if that was a quality to which his mother was drawn.

Kushina stood right behind the ajar front door and watch the two males talking to each other. Naruto seemed to be in a better mode than he was moments ago and the redhead hoped that it meant that those two would finally be able to get along. She smiled to herself and then quietly made her way back into the dining room.

"Come on. Let's go back inside." Naruto did not move from his spot. Iruka gave him an understanding smile. "You don't have to like me, but at the very least… Give me a chance. What do you say?" Naruto continued to stare at his feet with a contemplating expression on his young face. Iruka waited patiently, just standing in front of the blonde as he awaited an answer from him. Eventually the tan boy looked up at the scarred man and tried to hide his embarrassment from the older of the two.

"I guess you deserve a chance." Naruto mumbled in a soft voice. The brunette was just able to hear the soft voice coming from the blonde and gave him a bright smile once Naruto was finished speaking.

"That's all I wanted. Now come on. Your mom's waiting." The two males then slowly walked back into the large house to eat a dinner that now promised to be more relaxing than it was a few moments ago.

--

After a few hours of eating and talking with Iruka, Kushina decided it was getting late and then drove her son back to his home. When the blonde exited his mother's car and opened the garage door using the pin pad, he saw that his father's car was already parked in the garage, which meant he was home. Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. He did not want to admit to his father that the time he spent with his mother and Iruka was not as bad as he had originally thought. He opened the door that connected the front hallway to his garage and took off his shoe as he entered into the house.

"Dad!" Naruto called out as he closed the door behind him. "I'm home."

Minato was sitting at the computer desk in the living room. He turned to the figure of his son walking into the living room and gave him a smile. "Hey there, kid." Minato said as he spun the swivel chair slightly so that he could face his son. "Did you have fun?"

"I wouldn't say fun." Naruto said as he walked over to the couch and leaned against the back of it, since it was facing away from the computer desk. Minato let out a short laugh. "I still think you're cooler than Iruka." It took Naruto a second to realize that he used the brunette's first name without thinking. "I mean, than Mr. Umino."

"Umino Iruka, huh." Minato said slowly. "So that's his name." Minato then looked as if he had something on his mind. Naruto gulped loudly and hoped that his father was not planning on killing the scarred man. He didn't need to have his father end up in jail. "Hey, Naruto." The older man said after a pause. "Uh… how old is he?"

"Is that what you were worried about?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just tell me."

"Twenty-nine." Naruto said softly after a pause.

"Damn. He's really young." Minato paused and then gave his son a smile. "Makes me feel like an old man." Naruto could tell he faked that smile that was still on his face.

"You're not old, dad."

"Thanks, son. But you can admit it. I'm old right? I mean I'm gonna be _forty_(2) soon."

"I don't think that's old." Naruto tried to reassure his father. Forty, Naruto believe, always seemed to be so hard for adults to go through and it would seem that Minato was no exception to that rule. "All my friend's have parents that are in their fifties. You and mom are young compared to them."

"Thanks." Minato said in an unsure manner. He knew that his son was trying, but when Naruto mentioned the phrase _young compared to_ _them_, he could not help but feel a little hurt.

"Dad, I'm not going to like him better than you, if that's what you're worried about." Naruto's tone became serious. "Sure Iruka's… eh… interesting, but he's nothing compared to you. No one is. You've always been funny and cool and I've never been embarrassed of you like other kids are of their parents."

"I doubt that." Minato said with a laugh. "You remember you're fourteenth birthday party when I came out of the bedroom and started dancing to the cool music that was playing." Naruto shivered at the awkward memory. Minato laughed at his son's disgusted expression. The blonde then recalled the event and remembered that he had told his friends that it was not his father, but his crazy, drunken uncle. Unfortunately, none of them believed him, but at least it stopped them from bringing up the incident over and over.

"Okay, so you've got me there." Naruto laughed. "But in my defense you cannot dance for shit!"

Both Naruto and his father laughed. Naruto was happy that his father could still laugh and be happy even after everything that had happened in the past few days. He then realized that maybe Sasuke had been right. Maybe his parents really were better off separated than they were together. Both his father and mother seemed to be happy and they were still carrying on with their normal, daily lives. Naruto gave a warm smile to his father. If his father could be happy, then that meant that he could also be happy.

Naruto excused himself and ran into his room. It was late and he was tired. He plopped down on his bed and gave a sigh of relief, forgetting entirely about the phone call he had wanted to make to Ino earlier in the day. He hoped that tomorrow would be a more stress-free and relaxing day than today had been.

It was too bad for Naruto that his wish would not come true.

--

(1) I looked it up and Iruka was 23 at the beginning of the series. I figured since Naruto was 12 at the beginning, I then added 6 years to give him his current (well almost current) age of 18 and… BAM! 29. I'm amazing at math, ne? XP

(2) Random age… I thought it was appropriate. It's like he'll have a mid-life crisis with a side of "my wife is cheating on me" please. Sorry Minato. But look on the bright side. My dad's turning _fifty_. Yeah. Feel better.

* * *

**I think I've just invented the biggest crack pairing ever OO. I mean… Iruka and Kushina?! Seriously. What the hell? I wrote it and still don't get it, but I wanted Iruka to try to be like a father to Naruto. Of course it will take time Iruka. Naruto's so stubborn XD ha.**

**I was able to write this chapter so quickly, because my legs were hurting so badly from exercising last night that all I could today was sit :sweat: heh, heh XP. I guess I'm just really out of shape. That was random. Sorry.**


	6. It's True

**I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long fic. I'm not exactly sure how long, but longer than the other stories I've written. I mean, there's just so much I want to put in this story and I need to have a lot of chapters so that I can gradually introduce and execute the events. I feel like there might be more than 30 OO ((oh noez!!)). It feels so cool to have a story that long. So cross your fingers and we'll see what happens.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. My version of Naruto would include suggestive material, dramatic situations, and a musical number XD ha! … I was serious about the musical number.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. Same old, same old from me. For those of you out there that do not approve of these sorts of things that means that you and the back button will be getting to know each other in the near future.**

* * *

Ino jutted out her lower lip when the final bell to homeroom rung loudly throughout the entire school building. The blonde had hoped that she would have been able to talk to Naruto this morning, but as fate would seem to have it, the certain tan boy must have been absent or late to school today.

Figures. The only day that Ino ever really needed to talk to the blonde-haired boy, he would not be here.

She let out a short sigh and rose when the TJTV announcer came on and started to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. As she placed her right hand over her heart, she wondered to herself where in the world Naruto could possibly be at this very moment.

--

Naruto let out a loud sneeze as he sprung up in his bed. The blonde could not understand the unbelievable bad luck that he had.

The blonde had been so emotionally exhausted and anxious to see if everything was all right between Sakura and her best friend, Ino. He guessed that his mind had over-worked itself considering everything that had happened to the tan boy yesterday. Between his girlfriend getting in a fight with her best friend since kindergarten and meeting his mother's new lover and crying in front of the scarred man (though Naruto had not counted on doing that), he was just completely worn out.

With a sigh, Naruto let his body fall back down onto his queen-sized bed and let himself get comfortable amongst his soft, cotton sheets. The tan boy pushed his unruly blonde bangs away from his forehead and placed his hand beneath them to feel his warm head. His head seemed to be in a daze and, from what the blonde could tell, it was because of a slight fever.

Rolling over in his comfortable bed, Naruto momentarily wondered how everything else was going back at school without him there.

--

"Kiba!"

Said brunette twitched when he heard a familiar overly sweet voice calling his name. It was the end of the day and the only thing that Kiba wanted to do after a long and tiring day of school was to go home and relax. He was in no mood to deal with the person calling out to him. Nonetheless, he turned around to come face to face with a very scary and determine looking Sakura. Though, when he saw the pink-haired girl before him, he tried his hardest to contain his laughter, but he was unsuccessful and he burst into a loud chuckle.

"Oh shut the fuck up!" Sakura yelled back at the laughing boy. She immediately tried to cover up the dark black and blue bruise that engulfed the entire area around her cheek; though it was pointless since the places on the left side of her face that was not bruised, was swollen terribly.

"Oh, it's you." Kiba muttered.

"Don't give me that! Who else would it be?" Sakura snapped as she placed her small hands on her slender waist, jutting her hips out to the side as if she was trying to physically show how serious she was being with the brunette boy in front of her.

"Well with the current look on your face and that sick-looking bruise, I was thinking maybe Freddy Kruger(1)." Kiba said under his breath.

"Fuck off, Kiba! Have you seen Naruto today?" Sakura asked bluntly.

Kiba growled in his throat. He should have known this was about the girl's blonde-haired boyfriend. Anytime that Sakura even thought to grace some one as lowly as the dog lover with her regal presence, it was always to ask him something about Naruto. "No I haven't." Kiba replied back after a pause.

"Bull shit!" Sakura yelled. "Are you _trying_ to make him avoid me? Cause if you are, Kiba, I will make sure that you're beaten within a inch of you li—"

"I haven't seen him, _Haruno_, because Naruto is absent today." The brunette retorted before the pink-haired girl could even finish her statement. "Don't act like you know everything."

"I certainly know more than you." Sakura stated as she pouted her lips out, disliking the brunette's answer to if he had seen her boyfriend.

Sakura had somewhat hoped that Naruto's friends were trying to make him avoid her. At least then, she could have somehow found a way to get to him and talk to him alone; the pink-haired girl was determined to get the blonde boy before anyone else did. Sakura pondered over the answer that Kiba had given her and wondered if it was actually correct. And then the pink-haired student thought that maybe, Naruto being sick was a blessing in disguise. This could be her chance to make sure things went her way.

Without another word to the brunette in front of her, she turned away and started to head off away from him to head for the school parking lot. Kiba huffed at her arrogant behavior.

Suddenly, Kiba was reminded of something that Sakura had said that seemed out of place to him. If the brunette had remembered correctly she had said something about making Naruto avoid the pink-haired girl. Now, the dog lover was not close the girl in the least bit (the two of them were closer to hating one another than being friends), but he wondered what could have happened to make the pink-haired girl suspect Naruto friend's of trying to pry them apart. As he slowly headed toward a side exit of the large school building, he mused over the thought a little more before dropping the subject from his thoughts.

Once the pink-haired girl was walking along the gravel-covered ground of the school's lower parking lot, she pulled out her cellphone and pushed aside the small pink flower charm that she had dangling from her phone. She quickly dialed a number and held the pink device up to her ear, waiting for a response from the other side of the phone line.

"_Hello?"_ a weary and tired voice said after the phone rang three times.

"Oh, Naruto! You are home!" Sakura said as a triumphant smile appeared on her young face. "I was worried that you were avoiding me today and that your friends were trying to keep me away from yo—"

"_Sakura?"_ Naruto interrupted suddenly.

"Ah… yeah?"

"_I'm sorry, but I haven't been feeling well all day. Could I just talk to you tomorrow?"_

Sakura paused for a moment as she let the blonde's words fully sink into mind. "But… But this is really important, Naru—"

"_Sakura, please. Not right now. I promise I'll talk to you first thing in the morning."_

There was nothing but silence coming from the pink-haired girl. Her grip on the pink cellphone loosened almost to the point where she was threatening to have it drop from her small hand and her expression went blank with surprise. In all the time that Sakura had ever spent with the blonde on the other end of the phone line, he had never shown such resistance to talk to her. She was stunned to say the least at the change in the tan boy.

"_I'll see you tomorrow."_ And with those last words, Naruto hung up his phone. The only sound that Sakura could hear from her phone now was the loud humming of the dial tone.

Angry and pissed off, Sakura closed her phone and furiously threw it back into her pants pocket and stormed off toward her car so that she could quickly leave and fume in anger in the privacy of her own home.

--

"What the hell happened to you, Sakura?!" Naruto shouted. The blonde had completely recovered from his illness that prevented him from coming to school yesterday and had wanted to see Sakura as soon as he could, considering he had to end their conversation early yesterday. He had passed by the TJTV room to see his girlfriend for a few minutes before he headed for homeroom, but he did not expect to see the pink-haired girl with a huge bruise on her cheek. The bruise itself wasn't so bad for it had healed slightly (the blue, purple and yellow coloring were very light now and were easily hidden with makeup), but the fact that the rest of the left side of her face was swollen dramatically made her one sight to behold.

"Oh, Naruto." Sakura said is a soft, yet surprised tone. She tried to turn away so that the blonde in front of her could see the bruise on her pale face and tried to act as if nothing was wrong. A great actress, Sakura was indeed. "It… It was nothing." Her voice was soft and innocent sounding. Ino had not arrived in the TJTV room just yet, but if she were there she would gag from the false innocence that the pink-haired girl had.

"That bruise is not nothing! Tell me what happened?!" Sakura looked away for a moment and it seemed as if she was afraid to tell the blonde. In reality, the young girl was merely trying to think up the perfect lie so that no matter what Sasuke and Ino could possibly say to the blonde, he would not believe them. After all, this was her perfect opportunity to get Naruto to believe her and despise Sasuke and Ino.

"Well I went to go apologize to Ino like you said I should, but when I caught up to her she was with Sasuke." Naruto nodded at his girlfriend and urged her to continue. "I think that he and Ino were trying to create some scheme that would let Ino take you away from me and Sasuke take me away from you." The blonde gave Sakura a confused look.

"Wait… Sasuke wanted to take you away from me?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Yes. That's when he went up to me and said that I should break up with you. When I told that I wouldn't, because I care about you too much to leave you, he became crazy and hit me!" The story that Sakura had come up with seemed foolproof. Her acting skills were perfect and she was sure that Naruto would fall for it like a ton of bricks. "Oh, Naruto it was horrible. I was so glad when the gym teacher came. I don't know what he would have done if… if he… he hadn't come." Sakura then began to sob. She attached herself onto Naruto shirt and held the material as tightly as she possibly could.

"He… He hit you? He hit you because you wouldn't date him?" Naruto said slowly. Sakura inwardly thought to herself that the blonde boy in front of her had to be the stupidest person in the world to not follow her story. She rolled her emerald eyes as she rested her head against his chest. Even though she was annoyed with his dense nature, she had to admit that she felt nice laying her head against his toned chest.

"Yes. I'm so glad that he's not here so that I could talk to you first. He would have lied to you about the whole thing!"

"Naruto?" Ino's said. She had just walked around the corner from the hallway and stopped when she saw Naruto and Sakura standing in front of the doorway that led to the TJTV room.

"Ino, I—" Sakura cut him off before the tall boy could say anything.

"Naruto, don't listen to anything that she says!" Sakura said desperately. "She's on Sasuke's side and she'll lie so that you'll break up with me and she can take you!" Sakura pushed her body closer to the blonde's, as if she was proving to Ino that the boy she was latched onto was hers.

"Sakura, Ino wouldn't do that." Naruto said as he stared down at his girlfriend with an unsure look.

"She would too!"

"No I would not!" Ino yelled at the pink-haired girl.

"Sakura." Naruto said softly as the two girls glared at each other. Ino's attention was then focused on Naruto. She realized with the expression he gave and the tone that his voice had, he would end up believing Sakura over her.

"You believe her, don't you?" She asked in a sullen tone.

"I—" Ino cut him off before he could continue on.

"I think that you should talk to Sasuke. If no one else, believe him." Ino decided that being in the TJTV room was going to be too painful and stressful, so the blonde-haired girl turned her back on the couple and walked back down the hallway from which she came. Naruto watched the blonde walk away. This whole situation seemed so confusing and Naruto knew that something about Sakura's story was not sitting well with him. It seemed so out of character for both Sasuke and Ino. The tall boy pushed Sakura away from him and gave his girlfriend a sympathetic look.

"Sorry Sakura. I need to talk to Ino." With those words Naruto disappeared down the same hallway that Ino had just vanished into moments before him. Sakura stared in the direction in which her boyfriend ran off in shock and horror. She thought for a moment that the blonde was not as tightly wrapped around her finger as she had once thought. She glared into the empty hallway and stormed into the TJTV room.

"Ino! Wait!" he called out. Ino turned around to see Naruto running toward her. "Can we talk?" Ino's dull blue eyes were wide with amazement. Naruto could actually believe her over Sakura! The thought alone made Ino's face turn a slight shade of pink. She quickly recovered and nodded.

"Let's talk in homeroom though." Ino was glad for the fact she and Naruto's last names were not too far away from each other when put into alphabetical order, which meant they were put into the same homeroom. Naruto agreed and the two walked down the hallway and up the stairs. It only took less than a minute before the two blondes were in their homeroom and sat down at two desks that did not have any other students around them.

"So about Sasuke hitting—"Naruto cut himself off. "Where is Sasuke?" Naruto asked after taking a look around the classroom. The blonde would normally get a ride with the pale boy to school, but since Sasuke normally over slept the two of them had decided that if Sasuke had not called Naruto by seven-twenty he would just take the bus. "I know he normally gets up late, but he's gonna miss the bell for homeroom."

"Sasuke didn't tell you?" Ino said after a short pause. Naruto wondered what she meant by that.

"Tell me what?" He asked with a quizzical look.

"Sasuke was suspended." Ino stated. "For hitting Sakura." Naruto's bright blue eyes shot wide open at the words that came from the girl in front of him. He could hardly believe that Sasuke was suspended… and that Sakura had told the truth about her injury.

"Sasuke really did hit her." Naruto said softly.

"Yes. But before you ask he had a good reason to hit her."

"I kind of already guessed that Sasuke would probably need a better reason than wanting to date Sakura in order for him to actually get mad enough to hit her." Ino was about to continue speaking when she realized what Naruto had just said to her.

"… You meant you didn't believe Sakura when she told you that?" Ino asked with a surprised expression on her face.

"I know Sasuke better than he knows himself. He's never been violent with anyone except his brother and me. And even then he was never seriously trying to hurt us. Well… except for when him and me first met. He was trying to hurt me then." Naruto let out a small laugh which caused Ino to give a small smile as well. "But Sasuke would have to completely hate someone for him to hit them and mean it, so I definitely ruled out him _liking _her or being jealous. If anything he would hit me if he wanted to date Sakura."

Once again Naruto let out a loud laugh and Ino's heart fluttered. This was due to both the fact that Naruto's face when he laughed was so very handsome _and_ because the blonde-haired boy had said that he had not believe everything that Sakura told him.

"But then why did Sasuke hit Sakura?" Naruto asked after his sort fit of laughter. A smile was still on his face, but it was not as big as it had been while he laughed. Ino stiffened and her gaze traveled from Naruto's face to her lap. She did not know if she should be the one to tell Naruto this, but when else would the blonde get the chance to hear the truth before Sakura got to him again? Ino took in a deep breath and looked into Naruto's eyes with a determined expression.

"He did it because she… she said that she was going to make you hate us. Me and Sasuke that is."

"Make me hate you?" Naruto questioned.

"It's a long story, but you need to hear it from the beginning. Please, you don't have to believe me, but just hear me out." Naruto nodded and awaited the girl in front of him to start her story. Ino then told Naruto about everything that happened after she had run off from him and Sakura. She told him about how her and Sasuke had talked, about how Sakura had caught up to them, and then about how she was rejected and about her threats. Naruto's eyes were wide. His brow was furrowed and his mouth hung open only slightly as he continued to stare at the blonde girl in front of him. Ino still wore her determined expression and hoped that Naruto would believe her.

"Did Sakura really say those awful things to you two?" Naruto said in a soft tone.

"She did." Ino replied. "And Sasuke lost his temper. And I did as well, so when the teacher came I accidentally swore in front of him so I had detention yesterday and I have it again on Thursday. I feel badly though. I wish I had done more. I mean Sasuke was willing to get suspended or more to keep Sakura from saying and doing such things. I just stood there." Ino's pale, blue eyes began to water and she, once again, looked down at her lap. Her finger fiddling together as she let her hands sit in her lap. "I'm a coward."

"You're not a coward, Ino." Naruto said as he placed his tan hand on her small shoulder. Ino's cheek turned a light pink, but Naruto did not seem to notice. "Sasuke's just an idiot." Ino laughed and the tears that started to form in her orbs were pushed into the corners of her eyes as they closed tightly. Naruto had to admit that Ino was very pretty when she laughed.

"Thanks, Naruto." Ino smiled at the tan boy as she wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes. The blonde boy smiled back and there was a peaceful silence between the two for only a moment.

"So… you really do like me. Don't you?" Ino's smile vanished and her cheeks became bright red with embarrassment. She had foreseen this question coming after she had told the whole story to Naruto, but she kind of hoped that they would have focused more on Sakura and Sasuke instead of herself.

"Y-Yes." Ino said as she looked away from the boy in front of her.

"I see."

"Y-You don't have to like me back, Naruto!" Ino said frantically as she waved her hands in front of herself. "I mean I had always realized that I would never stand a chance, so I had always expected you to reject me."

"Ino, why would you not stand a chance?"

"Well, because you're dating Sakura and I always thought that Sasu—" Ino cut herself off there when she finally realized what she was saying. "Er… nevermind. But, it just seemed like we could never be anything more than friends."

"Oh come on! Ino you're gorgeous! Any guy would be lucky to have you date them." Ino smiled at Naruto's words, but she knew what was going to come next. "But I am dating Sakura." Ino looked down at the desk in front of her and wore an understanding expression on her pretty face. She'd seen it coming when she had first realized she liked Naruto, so she was prepared for it. That was not to say that it did not hurt. For it did. Badly.

"I understand, Naruto."

"And I'm not sure about the whole story. Some things did seem a little hard to believe, but I do know that you and Sasuke are not bad people. I even think Sakura is not a bad person." Ino had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at that statement. "I'll have to think it over."

"Sorry. I said all those awful things about your girlfriend, Naruto. I didn't mean to… I mean, I didn't realize—" Ino, at this point, was cut off from her ramblings.

"It's all right, Ino. I understand." Right after Naruto finished speaking the bell for first period rang and the students rose from their seats and quickly began to leave the room. Naruto and Ino stood up from their chairs as well and gathered their books together.

"Talk to Sasuke. Please." Ino said right before Naruto was about to turn and leave the classroom.

"I will." Naruto smiled at the blonde girl and then proceeded to exit the classroom. Ino stared at the retreating figure of the tan boy with a warm smile on her face. She had a good feeling about this whole situation. The memory of Naruto stating that he believed her to be a good person rolled around in her head over and over again as she walked out of the classrooms and into the halls. As she made her way toward her first class, which was Environmental Science, she couldn't help but keep that sweet smile on her lips the entire time.

--

(1) Who doesn't love the Nightmare on Elm Street movies? Classic horror, right?

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**Originally, I wanted to have this chapter be solely about Ino and Naruto, but I had to add in another day at school because I had planned out certain events to happen in the next chapter that I needed to have occur on a specific date. And it would seem (after checking with a calendar), that I had accidentally missed a day while plotting out this certain event. Sorry XP. I'm retarded sometimes.**

**But about Naruto and Ino… I believe that they are just simple adorable together. I don't care if the pairing is slightly crack, I like it X3 :squee:. I want to write about them hanging out together later on in the story as well.**

**I promise that the next chapter will be _really_ long! Knowing me I'll get lazy and make it only medium length XP :sweat:. No, I swear I'll make it long.**


	7. It's Changed

**Seven. Once again that number that haunts me. Yeah you know that movie the _Number 23_… it's nothing like that, but seven does seem to follow me around. And bring bad luck with it. Let's just hope that this chapter won't be bad or poorly written.**

**But I promised you a long chapter and I delivered :proud of herself: X3. Yay.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I did own a ninja comic once, but it was making fun of a different anime… and it didn't actually have any real ninjas. Just one person pretending to be a ninja. It wasn't very good.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love, language and much, much drama. Those of you who seek beautiful locks ((and a way out of here)) just follow these three simple directions: Rinse, Lather, Back Button. Repeat steps if desired.**

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Naruto did not even bother going to his locker after the last bell of the day rang loudly throughout the entire school. For one reason he did not want to run into Sakura. He was angry with her for the lies that he knew she was telling and the ones that he was not sure if they were really lies. The other reason was that he wanted to get out of school as quickly as he possibly could so that he could talk to Sasuke and hopefully have this whole thing settled.

He sighed as he settled into the uncomfortable seat of the big, yellow bus. Bright blue eyes wandered to look outside the window, only to see people passing by as they walked along the sidewalk trying to get to their homes.

The blonde stayed on his bus longer than he was supposed to and got off at the final stop, which was at the intersection between Old Clairton Road and Sasuke's street. Naruto quickly got off the bus and stood on the sidewalk. He waited for the crossing guard to finally let the students cross onto the adjacent street, which took quite a while because the crossing guard thought that the people in the cars were more important than the young students beside her. Once the older woman walked out onto the street and held her hands up so that oncoming traffic would know to stop, the group of student quickly fled across the strip of pavement and hurried on to their homes.

Loud thuds from Naruto's fast running could be heard throughout the small street as he passed by the stream of old houses, trying to get to Sasuke's house quickly. The blonde stopped dead in his tracks when came across the steep driveway that led to Sasuke house, for he saw Sakura familiar red Volkswagen Beetle parked right in front of the old looking house.

Blue eyes became wide as he heard noises coming from the house. Naruto quickly ran the up the concrete steps and stopped when he came to the front door. The blonde was about to ring the doorbell when he accidentally overheard the voices coming from inside the house.

"Why are you even here, Sakura?" Naruto heard Sasuke's voice said a little louder than he needed to say it.

"Please! You have to promise not to say anything to Naruto about this whole thing." Sakura replied. "And the only reason I ever thought about breaking up with him is because… Because I do still like you. Isn't that the right thing to do? Naruto won't get hurt this way."

"You're reality is truly a twisted one if you believe that load of garbage you just said. Not hurt Naruto. Yeah right."

Sakura began to panic once again. Sasuke would just not go along with anything that she tried to tell him to do. He was just too stubborn. "It's his own damn fault for not seeing that I don't love him!" Naruto felt a sharp pain in his chest as he listened to Sakura's cold words. He just could not believe that Ino had been telling the truth about Sakura and her schemes to get Sasuke. The blonde clenched his fists as they hung at his sides.

"I really am a moron. For falling for such an act." He whispered to himself. Naruto then looked straight ahead at the front door to Sasuke's house and opened the screen door quietly. He then turned the knob to the actual door and found it to be unlocked and slightly ajar. The blonde knew that Sasuke probably had not closed it all the way when Sakura had come (or forced herself) into his house. Naruto opened the door all the way and walked into the house making sure that he kept the door behind him slightly opened, just so that the other two would not hear him enter. Naruto saw a few bags sitting by the door and knew that Itachi must be heading back up to college today, which made the blonde think how it was just like Itachi to skip two days of classes(1).

"Get out of my—!" Sasuke started to say, but he caught sight of a familiar mess of blonde hair out of the corner of his dark eyes and turned to see Naruto standing in the hallway before his living room. "Naruto?"

"Naruto!" Sakura called out to him as she completely forgot about the raven-haired boy and began to run toward him. "I tried to talk to Sasuke about what happened yesterday, but he's still furious at m—"

"Stop lying." Naruto cut of his girlfriend with that simple statement. Sakura's emerald eyes shot open wide. Her false tears were already beginning to dry up.

"Stop lying?" she repeated; her voice sounded shaky and hurt. "What do you mean?"

"I over heard you talking to Sasuke just now, Sakura." The pink-haired girl stood frozen in place, watching in horror as her perfectly executed plans unraveled right before her emerald eyes. There was a silence between the three teenagers for a long while. Sakura looked back at Sasuke in hopes of seeing some sympathy in his dark eyes, but she only found indifference in his cold glare. She saw basically the same expression in Naruto's eyes when she turned to face the blonde once more.

"Naruto… I—" Sakura cut herself off there when she noticed the coldness deep within the blonde's blue eyes. She knew there was absolutely nothing she could say to fix the mess she had made for herself. She let her words die in her mouth and just stared at the blonde with a look of depression and shock.

"Leave, Sakura." Sasuke said from behind the shocked girl. Her green eyes actually began to fill with tears and she pushed passed Naruto so that she could get over toward the front door. She slipped on her dark brown clogs and opened the door fully.

Hearing Sasuke's voice struck such hatred in herself that she had not known was there moments before. She quickly turned and walked off toward the door. "Have fun being single, Naruto." Sakura snapped as she slammed the door shut with a loud thud. Moments later the two males heard the sound of a car starting up and the screech of rubber tires skidding across the asphalt road. Needless to say they both knew Sakura was pissed, but neither really cared at that moment.

"Sorry for not knocking. I would have, but then I heard Sakura and the door was open and—" Sasuke cut the blonde off there.

"It's all right. I'm sorry you had to hear all of that." Sasuke walked over to his friend and led him into his living room so that he could sit down on the couch.

"I'm such an idiot!" Naruto said as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair. He took a seat on the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. "I can't believe I didn't see this coming." Sasuke sat down beside his best friend and placed his pale hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying to comfort the blonde the best he could.

"None of us saw it coming." Sasuke replied as he let his hand rub his best friend's upper back. "Ino even told me that she only found out what Sakura, her _best friend_, was doing because she over heard her talking to a group of popular girls about it. Sakura fooled us all. You're not an idiot." Naruto looked up at his friend and gave him a handsome smile. Sasuke felt himself about to blush, but reacted quickly and decided to keep talking instead of risk Naruto seeing his slightly pink face. "Well… you are an idiot, but that's besides the point." Sasuke's usual expression of apathy returned to his pale face.

"Thanks." Naruto said sarcastically to the boy sitting beside him. Even so the blonde still laughed and smiled at his friend, for he knew Sasuke really was trying to cheer him up (he was just being a little too much like his regular bastard-like self).

"Besides… you deserve better than Sakura." Sasuke said nonchalantly without even truly realizing that he was saying it to the blonde-haired teenager beside him. Naruto gave him a slightly puzzled look, but the expression went unnoticed for Sasuke's dark orbs were focused elsewhere. Naruto then smiled and attached himself onto Sasuke, which caused the raven to freak out slightly from the sudden embrace.

"Awww… Sasuke, I love you too." Naruto said in a childish tone and a big, goofy grin plastered on his face. "Become a woman and I'll go out with you." Naruto snuggled his head into Sasuke chest and the raven began to squirm in his hold.

"If you don't get off of me, I'll castrate you and then _you_ can become a woman." Sasuke hissed as he tried desperately to worm himself out of his best friend's incredibly tight grip on his waist. As Sasuke tried to pull harder Naruto's grip only tighten. The raven then began to move over on the couch, but Naruto would still not let go and thus now the two found themselves in a position that made the blonde look like he was lying on top of the pale boy. "I hate you." Sasuke grumbled as he gave up trying to pry the blonde off of his body. Naruto grinned like a fox and gave a short chuckle.

"I win! I'm top!" Naruto laughed harder at his own perverted joke and Sasuke gave him a look of disgust.

"I _really_ hate you." It was just the pure bad luck for the two boys that Itachi decided to walk down the steps and come into the living room at that moment.

"Sasuke, I heard the door slam a little while ago. What's wro—" Itachi started saying in his usual calm and indifferent tone, but he stopped mid sentence when he saw his brother and Naruto laying on the couch together in a very suggestive position. Itachi stared at the two males for a time, which caused Sasuke to become extremely nervous from his elder brother's intense yet indifferent stare. The elder Uchiha then smirked. "I'm a little hurt, Naruto. I practically throw myself at you and yet you go after Sasuke."

Naruto actually laughed at Itachi's little statement, but the raven underneath him did not find the situation funny at all. He was released from his friend's grasp and Naruto sat up slowly. "He's playing hard to get." Naruto said to Itachi as he stood up from the couch. Sasuke tried his best to hold back the blood that was rushing to his face, but it was not working as well as the pale boy had hoped that it would. He tried his best to avoid being that close to Naruto because of his feelings and somehow he always ended up in situations like this one.

"Oh my, what ever will your precious Sakura say when she finds out?" Itachi said in a mocking tone, but his smirk disappeared when he realized that Naruto was not smiling anymore. "What's wrong?"

"Sakura and I aren't dating anymore." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his neck and gave a nervous laugh. Sasuke could tell the laugh was completely forced and that the blonde was really torn up about this whole event with Sakura. The raven truly sympathized with his friend. First his parents and now his girlfriend. It just seemed like everything was going wrong for his friend. "Well she said 'have fun being single' so I guess that means she broke up with me."

"I see. That's a shame." Itachi said as he walked over to the blonde. He placed his hand on the top of his head and ruffled his blonde locks. "Are you all right?"

"I think so." Naruto said with a small smile. He really felt like Itachi and Sasuke were part of his family. Naruto never had any siblings when he was growing up so it felt nice to have people care about him like the Uchiha brothers did.

"Good." Itachi smirked at the younger boy. "Now, I have this friend whom owes me a favor, Naruto. If you wanted I could get him to make Sakura disappear… if you catch my drift." Naruto swore that the elder Uchiha's eyes turned red for a moment.

"I DON'T WANT YOU TO KILL HER!!" the blonde shouted in panic. Sasuke sighed at the loud noise and covered his ears so that the tan boy's screeches could not penetrate his delicate eardrums.

"It was just a suggestion." Itachi then walked away from the two boys and back up the stairs. Naruto turned around to face the raven-haired boy with a look of fear on his face.

"Does Itachi really have friends like that?" Sasuke simply shrugged and stood from his position on the couch so that he was once again at eye level with Naruto. As Sasuke walked into the kitchen, with Naruto following close behind, he walked over to the cupboards and saw the calendar that hung on the refrigerator door. His dark eyes widened when he realized that it was the ninth of October and that tomorrow was Naruto's eighteenth birthday. Sasuke cursed under his breath when he realized he was working tomorrow. Suddenly an idea struck him.

"Naruto, what are you doing tonight?" Sasuke asked as he opened the refrigerator door to get two cans of soda out for himself and Naruto. He gave the blonde a can of Coke-a-Cola and began to drink his own.

"Nothing really. Especially since my dad's not coming home tonight. He had to travel to New Jersey this morning for business and he won't be back till tomorrow morning." Naruto took a sip of his drink and set it down on the counter afterwards. "Why?"

"Let's go out." Sasuke said calmly as he turned to face the blonde once again.

"Out? To do what."

"Anything. Let's just go out." Naruto stared at the raven for a moment, with a puzzled look. The blonde then let out a small laugh and his gaze left the pale boy for only a moment.

"It's not like you to be so impulsive." Naruto said.

"Do you want to go or not?"

"Oh, I'll definitely go. I think your having an epiphany or some other life changing mood swing, and I'll be damn if I miss this." Sasuke grumbled under his breath at the blonde's comment, but then forgot about it completely and let a smile form on his thin lips.

"Come then."

Sasuke walked out of the kitchen and headed toward the front door, where he quickly slipped on his black sneakers. Sasuke was actually glad that he had made the decision to change out of his nightclothes after he had woken up this morning. It took the blonde a moment to realize that Sasuke meant that they were going to leave now. Naruto forgot about his drink that still sat on the counter and ran after his best friend, whom was waiting by the front door, his keys to his cars already in hand.

The two males walked out of the house and down the steps. Itachi once again walked down the steps that lead to the first level of their large house slowly, with a large bag on his shoulder and a smaller one in his arms, and entered into the living room. He heard the sound of a car starting and he looked out the window so that he was able to see his brother and Naruto backing out of the driveway in Sasuke's blue car. The pale man smiled at the pair and walked away from the window.

"Sasuke's gotten so bold." Itachi then pushed a lock of long, raven hair behind his ear and went over to the front door to set down the two bags. "I hope everything goes well."

The older man opened the front door and began to bring the bags that were set beside the front door out to his beautiful, black 2003 Hyundai Tiburon(2). As he approached the car he manually opened the trunk with the key and placed the two large bags that he carried out to his car inside. He repeated this, until everything he needed was carefully packed into the back seat and trunk of his black car. He pulled out his cellphone as he got into his car and quickly type up a short text message to his little brother.

"You better tell him that." Itachi said before he started up his car and left his house so that he could head toward his apartment near Slippery Rock University.

--

Sasuke and Naruto had decided to go to Century Three Mall first so that they could shop and look around the many, many stores in search of really nothing in particular. It was more or less to hang out, play a few games at the arcade, get some food, and maybe buy something… that is if they had any money to spare after all of that. The two of them were currently in the arcade and they were caught up in a close game of air hockey. Currently Sasuke was in the lead with a score of ten goals and Naruto was close behind with eight, which made the blonde swear out loud that he would rather die than lose to Sasuke in air hockey.

The pale boy got distracted for a moment when his cellphone vibrated in his pocket, causing Naruto a chance to score a goal (making the new score ten to nine). The raven pulled out the phone and flipped it open to see that he had a message from his brother. He motioned to Naruto to give him a second to read it and the blonde agreed.

When he opened the message, his eyebrow twitched and a look of hatred and disgust found its way onto the raven's pale face. _"Tell Naruto Happy Birthday for me, little brother. Also tell him that next time I come back I'll give him his present. Make sure he hasn't lost his virginity yet! It won't be as much fun to rape him it he has."_ Sasuke looked over the text message one more time, just to make sure he did not misread it or something. Realizing he did not, Sasuke growled in his throat and forcefully put the cellphone back into the front pocket on his lose fitting jeans.

"Who was it?" Naruto asked as he twirled his finger around on the air hockey table. The air blowing upward from the small holes in the plastic covering felt weird as he ran his index finger over them.

"It was just Itachi being a moron." Sasuke said as he pulled the hockey puck out of the slot and placed it back on the table. He hit the puck with so much forced that it moved a little too fast for Naruto to react, which left an opening for Sasuke to score. The digital scoreboard above the table rung out as Sasuke scored the last point that gave him eleven goals in total (which was the limit to the game).

"Hey! Not fair! I wasn't ready." Naruto whined.

"Your fault." Naruto jutted out his bottom lip and gave the raven a pout.

"Fine, but I get to pick the next game." Sasuke replied with a nod and Naruto walked over to the other end of the air hockey table to grab Sasuke by the wrist. The blonde led the two of them over to the corner of the arcade where the Dance Dance Revolution machine was kept. The raven stared at the machine with a look of disbelief.

"Anything but DDR." Sasuke said to the blonde as Naruto began putting quarters into the machine.

"You agreed that I could choose and I want to play DDR." Naruto then started to press buttons to set up the game for both of them to play. Sasuke sighed and got onto the metal pad. The raven had this theory that people who were not good at dancing could play DDR very well, while the people who were actually good at dancing could _not_ play DDR to save their lives. This theory was proved because Sasuke never danced or cared to dance, but he was secretly good at DDR. He never wanted to play the game though because of a certain incident where a crazy girl gave him money to watch him play(3). It was very, very creepy and potentially scarring.

The two started playing and Sasuke had an easy time playing it. Naruto on the other hand was not horrible at the game, but definitely not as good as Sasuke, so the blonde put them both on standard instead of heavy. After three rounds of songs, Sasuke won. By a lot. He had to admit that Naruto was getting better at the game, though it was still a little unfair for the pale boy to be so good at it when he only played the game now and then (and mostly in privacy to keep himself safe from creepy girls).

Soon, the two of them grew tired of the arcade and decided to go to the Borders at the other end of the mall. Naruto wanted to look at the new manga books that had come out and he wanted to buy the latest volume of Bleach.

The blonde bought the book and then the pair went off to a few other stores like Hot Topic and F.Y.E. before they went up to the third level of the mall to go into the comic book store and Cash N' Cultures, which sold everything from old movies to old video games to _very_ old action figures.

It seemed like hours before the boys finally listened to their rumbling stomachs and headed over to Auntie Anne's Pretzels for a bite to eat. Naruto decided to order a cinnamon and sugar pretzel while Sasuke just got an original salted pretzel (and of course both of them got some of their famous lemonade).

They walked around the long pathways of the mall for a while, because the stores did not like it very much when food was brought into their stores.

"Attention shoppers," rang the sweet woman's voice throughout the entire mall. "The Century Three Mall will be closing momentarily. Please make your finally purchase at this time. Thank you."

When Naruto and Sasuke heard the voice from the intercoms, Sasuke pulled out his cellphone and checked to see what time it was. It read nine-fifty. Naruto looked at the phone's screen as well and groaned at how late it was. "Shit. We better be getting home soon then." He said as the two of they stood up from the bench that they were sitting down on.

"Not just yet." Sasuke said as he rose to his feet.

"Didn't you hear them? They're closing."

"I heard them, moron. I just don't want to go home yet."

Naruto glared at the raven-haired boy in front of him. "You may not have to get up tomorrow, but I do."

"Just a little longer." Sasuke said as he turned to face the blonde. Naruto knew that Sasuke always tried to hide his emotions, but since he had known Sasuke for years, he knew that Sasuke was pleading as much as his Uchiha pride would let him. Naruto sighed and then gave his friend a big smile.

"All right. But just this one time."

With those words Sasuke lead the blonde out of the mall and they headed for his car in the parking lot, which was not as packed as when they had arrived at the mall. They drove for a while but they soon came to their destination, which was the Chilies restaurant next to the Maxi Saver movie theater. Sasuke parked the car and led the blonde into the restaurant.

"This is where you wanted to go?" Naruto asked as he looked around the inside of the small building.

"I was hungry." Sasuke replied quickly. "Besides, you love Chilies."

"Yeah, _I_ do. _You_ don't. Actually, you really don't like eating out at all."

"Whatever. Let's just eat." Naruto gave the raven-haired teenager a suspicious look, but did not really think about his doubts for too long. The blonde was just happy to get some food into his stomach. A growing boy cannot survive on Auntie Anne's pretzels and lemonade alone. The two boys waited only a moment before some one walked up to them so that they could seat the pair.

"Welcome to Chilies, how many are—" the waitress cut herself off suddenly when she turned to face thee two boys in front of her. After hearing the familiar voice, both Sasuke and Naruto also realized who was speaking to them.

"Temari?" Naruto asked in slight confusion.

The blonde-haired woman pushed her blonde bangs out of her green eyes and gave the two younger boys a big grin. "Well if it isn't little Naruto and Sasuke. Never thought I would see you two here."

"Neither did we." Sasuke answered truthfully.

"I didn't know that you worked here, Temari." Naruto added.

"I've been working here since the beginning of this school year. College doesn't pay for itself, you know." The older woman gave the boys a wink and then a short laugh. The blonde stopped laughing and then looked slightly confused for a moment, but quickly regained her composure. "Hey. Don't you two have school tomorrow? Why are you out so late?"

"We're hungry." Naruto whined.

"I'm suspended, so I don't have to wake up tomorrow." Sasuke replied in a low tone.

"No! You?! Suspended?! What for?"

"I… hit Sakura…" Sasuke jutted out his lower lips and turned his gaze away from the college student. "In her face."

"YOU WHAT?!" Temari shouted. Her loud shout caused several of the customers in close by seating to stare at her with puzzled faces. Temari then remembered herself and ushered the two boys over to a table where not too many people were around, so as to not embarrass herself once again or get caught by her boss. "Why on earth would you hit Sakura? No…_ Anyone_?!" Temari said in a hushed tone as soon as the blonde and raven sat down at the table.

"She deserved it." Sasuke replied back simply.

"It's a complicated story, Temari. I'll tell you all about it some other time." Naruto interjected so that neither the pale boy or the college student would lose their short tempers and do something destructive in the restaurant.

"You better." Temari then pulled out a small notepad and a pencil. "What do you want to drink?"

"Water." Sasuke answered.

"Sprite!" Naruto said with a smile.

"Coming right up." With that the blonde-haired girl walked away from the pair. Naruto let out a loud sigh and slumped into his chair.

"She's not going to let this go so easily." Naruto whined slightly.

"Ten bucks says that Sakura will tell a different story at school and make you and I out to be the bad guys." Sasuke said as he began to look over the menu that was set down on the table by Temari before they sat down. Nothing seemed to be very good to the raven-haired boy.

"Sasuke. She wouldn't do that—"

"Don't tell me that you still want to think of her as a good person." Sasuke's dark eyes quickly moved from the menu to gaze at the tan boy that was sitting in front of him.

"I… I think that she had a good reason for doing what she di—" Naruto was then cut off by his best friend before he could even finish his sentence.

"Damn it, Naruto!" The pale boy's fists were then slammed down upon the wooden table with so much force behind them that he shook the table slightly. "She… She used you!"

"But she—"

"She did it for her own selfish reasons. Stop trying to say it's not her fault."

"I can't." Naruto said in a soft tone of voice. Sasuke finally unclenched his pale fists (which were turning white from his strong grip) and looked at the blonde with a puzzled look. "I still love her." Dark orbs widened as far as they could possible go and stared with such shocked and unable to believe what he had just heard at the tan boy, whom wore an expression of sincere sadness.

Those were the only words that he did not want to here from the boy he secretly loved. Knowing that Sakura had used him and tore his best friend's heart apart was hard enough, but knowing that the blonde-haired boy still loved the cruel girl after everything that she did to him was just too much to bear for the raven. He looked away from the blonde, unable to look into his beautiful blue eyes, and held his tongue, for the last thing Sasuke needed was for unnecessary words to accidentally escape from his mouth. His lips pursed themselves into a thin line.

"I know it's stupid of me… but I just can't help it." Naruto gave his friend a pleading look. He wanted Sasuke to understand how he felt, because even if the raven hated Sakura for what she did, Naruto wanted Sasuke to know that he did not and could not hate her.

But the raven was just too stubborn.

"Here're your drinks, guys." Temari said with a smile as she sat down the two glasses in front of the boys. "What do you want to eat?"

"Oh! Uh… I'll have the…" Naruto started to say as he picked up his menu. "I'll have a cheeseburger and fries." Naruto said with a smile as he handed the large menu to the older woman, who took it from him right after she was finished writing down his order.

"And you, Sasuke?"

"Hn? I'll just have the same thing." Sasuke replied and handed the menu to Temari. She took it after changing the first order to two cheeseburgers instead of one.

"All right I'll be back soon." The blonde woman then walked away once again and left the two boys in an awkward and tense silence. They stayed like that for a long time, until Naruto decided to finally break the silence that seemed as if it was threatening to suffocate the two boys that were engulfed in it.

"You never eat cheeseburgers. You really didn't want to eat here didn't you?" Naruto said trying to lift the mood ever so slightly.

"You're beyond stupid for forgiving her." Sasuke said, going back to the previous subject. Naruto hated how stubborn Sasuke could be at times. The raven just could not let this subject go. The blonde had to wonder why Sasuke was so caught up it this whole Sakura ordeal.

"Let's just not talk about Sakura right now. Okay?" Naruto said as he placed his plastic straw into his glass of soda, getting ready to drink it.

"Hn." Sasuke replied. It was painfully obvious to Naruto that the raven was angry.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I don't hate her!"

"You should!" Sasuke snapped at the blonde. His dark eyes looked like they were started to become teary. "She betrayed you. And you… You…" Sasuke paused for a long time and let his dark eyes look away from Naruto once again. "You deserve better."

"Sasuke." Naruto said softly. The blonde's voice was so soft that the raven could not even hear it over the loud clamor of the voice of the other customers throughout the small restaurant.

Naruto suddenly felt as if something had just changed between the relationship that he and Sasuke shared, but what that something was… he did not know.

--

(1) My sister does that XD ha. Though she doesn't spend those days at home, she's spends it up at her college with her friends. I bet they're just getting high :laughs so hard:.

(2) It really is a pretty car. I wanted it, but my parents told me that one car was enough for me :tears:. They just don't understand. XD Ha, ha.

(3) :cough, cough: Okay! Guilty! I did this. Sasuke met me XD. Well in this fic he did. I actually did this to my friend's boyfriend ((and a few other boys :shifty eyes: heh, heh)). He could play on heavy and I was utterly amazed so I gave him a dollar to continue playing :laughs:. I'm a freak, I know.

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**Don't worry Sakura fans. It may seem like she's completely out of the picture, but that's where you'd be wrong! I have things planned for our little Sakura. But she won't appear for a while… quite a few chapters actually.**

**Even though this chapter was all about Sasuke and Naruto, I'm going to be focusing more on Iruka and Naruto's relationship and how his parents feel about it ((Get your minds out of the gutter XO. No IruNaru in this fic thank you XP ha)). And a side note… everything that Sasuke and Naruto did at the mall was basically what I do with my friends ((not in the same order though)).**


	8. It's Lonely

**All right. This chapter is going to be a little confusing. I have the first part as the rest of the night before Naruto's birthday and the second part takes place a few days after it. Confusing. Maybe. Interesting. I hope so.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Though with my band of super secret awesome ninja rabbits, we will take the ownership of Naruto BY FORCE! :evil laughter: I'm psychotic. I know XP.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love ((and hints of real Boy Love)), language and drama. Me sayth that if thou doth not wish to view thine material of the male love genre, thou canst push the mystical back button of wonder. :pauses: We have determined that I'm high or something, right? XD ha**

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Naruto stared at his friend for a long while. He had not expected such words to come from his best friend's mouth and was quite taken back by them. But it was more than the simple words that Sasuke had said to his best friend that caused the blonde aghast feeling. The tone and expression that Sasuke wore made the tan boy feel as if there was more behind those simple words than his friend was letting on.

"Sasuke, what are you—?" Naruto began to say but was cut off by the raven sitting in front of him.

"It nothing. Just forget about it." Sasuke's dark orbs had a panicked look to them as he tried to keep his calm and indifferent composure while avoiding eye contact with the blonde.

"But Sasuke—!"

"Here's your food!" Temari said with a big smile as she sat down the two plates of food on the wooden table. "I made them make it quick for you guys." Naruto and Sasuke turned their attention to Temari and forgot about their previous conversation for the time being.

"Thanks Temari!" Naruto gave the older woman a large, breath-taking grin. The blonde woman smiled back and left the two boys to get back to her other customers. Naruto then immediately dug into his meal while Sasuke looked at the cheeseburger while mild discontent before picking at the side of fries that came with it.

The blonde noticed the weird state that his best friend was in and put down his food so that he could possibly get the stubborn Uchiha to forget his manly pride and talk about his feelings.

"Sasuke. What's wrong?" Naruto said in a serious tone of voice. His blue eyes showed true concern for his friend, but Sasuke's dark orbs stayed focused on the piece of dead cow that sat on his plate (1). He did not have the heart to look up into such innocent eyes when he himself was so full of jealousy and anger toward the girl that used to be the blonde's girlfriend.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke replied almost in a whisper.

"You're apologizing?!" Naruto's tone was filled with wonder and amazement. In all the years that he had known Sasuke, he had come to learn one thing and it was that there were just certain things that Uchiha never did. One was apologizing.

"Don't ruin this." Sasuke said with a malicious tone behind his voice. "I shouldn't be saying all those things about Sakura. It's not my place to tell you what you should or should not do with your life."

"Sasuke. You're my best friend. Of course your opinion matters to me."

"But not as much as Sakura's." Sasuke said quickly.

"…" Naruto's expression became sullen. He did not know what to say to that line. Luckily he did not have to say anything for Sasuke had already known what the answer was going to be, and just continued to talk after he noticed that Naruto had remained silent for a while.

"Well, let's just forget about her right now. Finish eating because there's one more thing I want to do before I take you home." Naruto eyes lit up when he noticed the somewhat happy mood had returned to his best friend. Naruto then contently starting eating once again and Sasuke continued to pick at the dead cow on bun in front of him. The two then were able to start another conversation and ended up having a good time while they ate. They even enjoyed the often visits that Temari gave them as she passed their table while she was on her way to her other customers.

Soon both of them were finished and Temari reluctantly brought them their check. She complained about how she never saw them anymore, but the blonde insisted that she should come over to his house sometime. Naruto even told her he would invite Shikamaru over so she could molest him, which made the blonde-haired woman laugh and agreed to that notion.

Eventually the two boys left the restaurant and headed back toward their home, which made Naruto very confused as to what exactly the raven wanted to do before he let him go back to his home. Sasuke then drove onto the blonde's street, but stopped at the very top and turned off the car. Naruto, who was more than a little confused copied Sasuke and got out of the car and sat over at the bench that was placed in between two small trees that the owners of the land had planted their years ago. Sasuke sat down as well and looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.

"We haven't hung out like that in while." Sasuke said as he let his arm lay along the back of the bench. Naruto gave him a strange look.

"We always hang out, dude."

"But when was the last time that we spent the entire day together without having to work or having something other to do that cuts off our time together?" Sasuke then picked up his head so that he could look over at the blonde better.

"I guess you're right." Naruto sighed. "So that's what tonight was about."

"Well not completely." Sasuke said in annoyed tone. He then flipped open his cellphone that he had pulled out from his pocket and noticed that it was a good fifteen minutes until midnight. He groaned and then sat up from his slouched position on the bench. "I had hoped that it would be after midnight before I said this but…"

Naruto looked over at the raven-haired teenager with confusion. He had no idea what Sasuke wanted to say to him or why he had wanted to wait until to was after midnight to say it. The blonde did not understand why Sasuke had do things in such an odd and particular way.

"Happy birthday, dude." The tan boy could have sworn that Sasuke had a slightly red tint to his cheeks, but the he shrugged it off as being due to the cool breeze. Naruto stared wide-eyed at the raven; he was completely caught off guard by that little phrase and he was unsure of what he should do. Sasuke had just spent the entire day with him so that he could wish him a happy birthday. Flattered would be very close to what the blonde felt as he let out a smile and soft chuckle. "Sorry I don't have a present for you yet. I've been a little busy lately."

"Use the time that you've gained from being suspended to get me one." Naruto laughed as he swung his arm around the pale boy and gave him a brilliant, toothy grin that Sasuke enjoyed seeing ever so much.

"Yeah. Right." Both of them laughed and then fell into a peaceful silence as they looked up into the starry night sky.

"I completely forgot it was birthday tomorrow. My mind's been so busy on other things lately."

"It happens." Sasuke replied as he let his arms rub slightly along one another, trying to protect his body from getting too cold from the cool autumn breeze that went through both him and Naruto.

"So that's why you wanted to wait until midnight. It's still October ninth."

"Yeah."

"That's kind of dorky, dude." Naruto said as he turned his head over so that his beautiful, blue eyes could look into Sasuke's distance, dark ones. The smaller boy blushed from the blonde-haired boy's comment and turned away so that he could spare himself from the taunting that Naruto would inflict upon him if he knew that he was blushing. "Why didn't you just tell me tomorrow?"

"Well I'm supposed to work tomorrow, so I wouldn't see you."

"But you don't go in till five-thirty."

"… Yeah, but…." Sasuke paused. The raven-haired boy could not think of anything else to say. He knew that Naruto would become suspicious of his actions now that he could not defend himself.

"Thanks." Naruto said as he interrupted Sasuke thought process of how Naruto would find out his secret and then reject him as a friend and leave him for good, which left the pale boy a little stunned from Naruto's sudden statement. Sasuke quickly turned to face the blonde and his expression of surprise change into a warm smile when he saw that his best friend wore a handsome and genuine smile upon his tanned face. It warmed the Uchiha up so much to look at that beautiful face.

"You're welcome." Sasuke said as he let his dark orbs wander back up to look at the night sky with his best friend.

The smaller of the two sat there contently with the blonde until Naruto decided that he should get home and finally go to sleep (so that he could be able to awaken tomorrow morning for school). Sasuke reluctantly sat up and drove the blonde the rest of the way home, which Naruto found to be a little pointless since he was not even a minute's walk away from his house.

The two males parted finally when Sasuke pulled into the driveway and let the blonde-haired boy get out of the entered his home. The pale boy could not have imagined a better night. Well… that was lie. For Sasuke's perfect night with Naruto envisioned something a bit more erotic, which was very uncharacteristic for the Uchiha, but he could not help himself when it came to boy who was his best friend.

Sasuke then slowly drove to his house, prepared for the lecture that his parents would give him (if they were still awake) for being so late getting home. But he did not care. Memories of the wonderful night still fresh in his mind, made the raven smile all the way to his home.

--

A few days had passed since the night before Naruto's eighteenth birthday and all seemed to have calmed itself in his life. The blonde had visited his mother and Iruka once again and, much to the tanned boy's dismay, the brunette was growing on him… slowly. Naruto had not seen Sakura for quite while, since they did not have any classes together during the entire week nor did they share a homeroom (it would not matter since Sakura was hardly ever in her homeroom). The blonde did wish to see the pink-haired girl once more; just he could finalize everything and make sure there were not any hard feelings between the two of them. What could he say? He still loved the girl after all.

Naruto walked into Century Three Mall on the Saturday after his birthday and moved along through the crowds of people. Sasuke had to work today and so did most of his other friends, but the blonde had still decided to meet up with Kiba, who worked at the Dollar General, so that they could hang out for his break. The brunette had told him that he would be taking a break around two in the afternoon and Naruto was a few minutes early, but he knew that the dog lover would not mind going on his break earlier than he had planned.

He walked into the green-carpeted store and looked around at the cheap toys that they had in shelves in the entrance of the small store. Kiba spotted him and after he was finished ringing up his last customer, he hopped over the counter and turned to face his boss, whom was walking down one of the isle.

"I'm taking my break now!" he yelled as he grabbed onto Naruto's arm and ran out of the small store. The two did not stop until they got to the group of benches that stood in front of one of the exits of the large mall. "I'm glad you showed up, man." Kiba said as he patted the tanned boy's shoulder. "It was crazy in there. People would not stop coming!"

"Well it is Saturday. Lots of people shop on Saturday." Naruto said as he laughed at his friend's current state.

"Yeah, but it gets _soo_ much worse when Halloween is right around the corner. Everybody wants to dress up like a retard and to buy candy. I swear it will be the death of me! The very holiday I love so much!"

Naruto laughed once again at his friend and then started walking him toward the food court at the other end of the mall. "C'mon, man. Let's go get some food. I'm starving!" The blonde whined.

"Me too. I slept in today so I didn't eat before I came to work."

"You'll die of starvation if we don't hurry!"

Naruto faked a worried tone and latched onto Kiba's loose buttoned up work shirt and then began to run toward the opposite end of the mall, with the brunette's wrist held tightly in his hand. Both of the boys laughed as they maneuvered in between several people as they ran down the long walkway of the mall.

The two of them eventually arrived at the food court and both order some food from Sakkio Japan, their favorite Chinese restaurant in the mall. After ordering they choose a seat near the edge of the large set of rows of tables and chairs. Slowly, they dived into conversation (after devouring half of their meals already).

"So why did you want to hang out so badly, dude?" Kiba asked while he was still chewing some teriyaki chicken in his mouth.

"I guess I've been lonely." Naruto sighed after he took a sip from his Styrofoam cup of Mountain Dew. "Everyone's been busy lately, myself included. I don't know if I'll be able to have a birthday party."

"_DUDE_!!" Kiba yelled as he slammed his hands down upon the not-so-sturdy table and rose to his feet, forgetting completely about his food as he let his plastic fork drop from his hand and onto his tray. "You have to have a birthday party this year! You're going to be _eighteen_!! Fuck if I let you skip out on that!"

"Why is this so important to you? I'm the one turning eighteen." Naruto said with slight annoyance in his low voice. His blue eyes looked around and saw many people starring at the two of them now.

"Because! You're the first one in our group to turn eighteen! This start a new era in our friendship!" Kiba said with a wide grin as the brunette chose to sit back down in his chair.

"No. Sasuke turned eighteen in July."

"But he's like completely asexual!!" Kiba whined, which made the blonde in front of him laugh and agreed with that statement. "It's just a shame that you're not dating Sakura anymore. You could have totally gone for it and fucked her."

Naruto's cheeked were then dusted with pink as Kiba mentioned the perverted suggestion of what he could do with the pink-haired girl. "I wouldn't have done that with her."

"Why not?" Kiba asked as the dog lover began to eat his Chinese food once again.

"Because she doesn't turn eighteen until March. Besides… I like too much to do something like that."

"You'll be a virgin forever." Kiba said in a bored tone as he let his dark eyes wander over to peer at a random pair of girls chatting amongst each other.

"You're one to talk." Naruto retorted as his blue orbs narrowed at his friend. "I don't think some one as shy and timid as Hinata would have sex with you before she was eighteen."

"Touché." Kiba grumbled as he once again ate his food placed in front of him. "She's such a cute, traditional girl." Kiba swooned. "I bet she doesn't believe in sex before marriage."

"The complete opposite of you." Naruto laughed and after giving an angry glare, Kiba laughed as well and agreed. The brunette thought about sex a lot… not as much as Naruto, but everyone could blame his grandfather(2) for corrupting the blonde. Naruto then took another bite from his meal as the two of them once again settled into a calm silence as they ate.

"Well, I am _not_ going to let you get away without having an eighteenth birthday party."

"And how are you going to accomplish that? Plan the party yourself?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"…" Kiba paused from eating his meal for his dark eyes suddenly lit up with a wonderful idea, courtesy of the blonde sitting in front of him. "That's not a bad idea. Yeah. That's what I'll do. I'll throw you a birthday party."

"Are you doing this so that you won't have buy me a present?"

"No! I'm doing this because you deserve a party." Kiba paused to take a drink from his own cup filled with Diet Pepsi. He then looked away from the blonde and scratched his cheek with his hand that was not currently holding his plastic fork. "And… because I'm broke right now." Naruto laughed and almost spit out the food that he was currently chewing, but the tanned boy covered his mouth with his hand before he started laughing.

"I knew it!"

"But it is mostly because you _deserve_ a party!" Kiba reiterated forcefully.

"I know, I know." Naruto stopped laughing and calmed himself down before he continued speaking to his friend. "Thanks dude."

"No problem." Kiba then took another sip from his drink and a grin appeared on his young face. "You do realize that I'll be expecting a great birthday gift from you when July rolls around."

"Yeah, I kind of expected that." Naruto sighed as he began eating his food once again.

The two of them talked for a little while longer and then it was once again time for Kiba to go back to the Dollar General and work. The brunette said good-bye to his friend and left him alone in the food court. The blonde sighed as he walked up to the closest garbage can and threw away the left over food on his tray and his empty cup. Normally he would hang out with Sakura on Saturdays since, the pink-haired girl usually did not work until four in the afternoon, but since the two of them were no longer dating, the blonde felt so utterly lonely on the day that he would spend with his old girlfriend.

Naruto had thought about asking his boss, Orochimaru, to work so that he could get his mind off of the young, beautiful girl, but he would only make him think about her more, since the pink-haired girl worked back in the Pharmacy. The blonde wondered if he would ever be able to go back into a Rite Aid store without thinking about her. Reluctantly, Naruto left the mall and started on his way home. He inwardly cursed not having a car for that meant he had to walk all the way home. But he did not mind so much since it only took the tanned boy about twenty minutes to walk from Century Three Mall to his street Parkview Drive.

After slowly looking around at the happy people that hung out around the entrance to the mall, Naruto gave a sigh for "happy" was far from what he felt right now.

--

(1) Doesn't everybody just want to eat a cheeseburger now? … Err… I apologize to those of you who I have scarred into never wanting to eat one again. My bad XP.

(2) Will be revealed who his grandfather is in later chapters ((though I'm sure everyone can guess who it is XP)).

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**Not much to say right now. Nothing really happens in this chapter. I'm going to have probably another chapter or half one dealing with the whole Sakura thing and then I'm going to have more Naruto and Iruka bonding. I'm sorry Minato X/. I'm taking your son away from you.**

**Well… please review. I told you I didn't have much to say.**


	9. It's Sudden

**First off I'm sorry for the long wait. I was on vacation and then I had a little personal drama with my best friend. Yeah… Anyway I'm hoping to have the time in my story move a lot faster in future chapters. It's chapter nine and I've gone through a week. Gotta speed it up XD ha. Hopefully I'll be able to get the story to move at the speed I want it too XP.**

**I've been getting anxious about writing more chapters for this story. It just seems to pour right out of my fingers. It's been a long time since I've felt like this. I'm excited X3. I hope that it means that this story is as good as I feel it is. I'm not sure how it's going to end at this point. Hopefully something inspirational will come to me. I want it to end with a really important message as well! I'm not going to say what the message is just yet, because it hasn't had a chance to shine through. So hopefully you'll be able to find the meaning that I'm trying to convey without my help :3.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Though his merchandise does XD. I have so much Naruto crap it's not funny.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. There are two boxes left up there and you have the chance to win the box with one million dollars. So now is the time for your final decision… Read or no read ((Who else loves Deal or No Deal?)).**

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Students walked into the entrance of Thomas Jefferson high school in huge packs. Mixed within the large crowd of people were a familiar looking blonde and raven trying to pack their way through the crowded halls so that they could get closer to their lockers.

"So how does it feel to be back at school?" Naruto asked as the two of them walked through the black metallic door that lead into the school.

"I've only been gone four days, moron." Sasuke replied as he pulled his backpack strap farther onto his shoulder. Naruto laughed as Sasuke simply let out a sigh. "I have to go get my attendance card from the cafeteria. I'll see you in homeroom." With that the two parted and Naruto watched as his best friend walked down the crowded hallway toward the cafeteria. The blonde then continued to walk in the opposite direction until he came to the TJTV room and stopped suddenly when a certain pink-haired girl suddenly walked out of said room at that very moment.

Sakura's emerald eyes widened when she caught sight of the tan boy standing dumbfounded before her, though she, herself, was also taken back to a speechless state. Both of them neither spoke nor moved. They were left merely in a frozen state as their eyes met.

Not even a minute later, Sakura broke the eye contact as turned her head suddenly to avoid the intense and penetrating stare that Naruto gave her. She began to run back toward the TJTV room when the blonde's hand suddenly jerked outward and held tightly onto the young girl's wrist. Sakura dared not look back at her ex-boyfriend. She was not ready to confront him.

"Sakura…" Naruto said slowly and in deep tone of voice. "Please. Let's just talk for a second."

"About what?" Sakura replied without looking back at Naruto at all. She kept her gaze upon the speckled titled floor of the hallway and let her pink bangs fall over her face so that her green orbs were cast into a shadow. "It's pretty clear that you never want to see me again. Not after what I did to you."

"That's not true." Naruto's grip on the pink-haired girl grew tighter, but with a soft yelp from Sakura he let go and let her turn around to face him, while holding her wrist to her chest.

"What? But I betrayed you."

"I know that."

"I lied to you. I made you think that I cared about you. Why would want to still be around a person like that?!" Sakura was near hysterics by this point. She definitely did not want to be this emotional at school. She calmed herself down slightly and just turned her head away from the blonde boy in front of her once again.

"Sakura, no matter what you did to me I'm still not over you. You broke up with me, if my memory serves me right."

"I thought it would be unfair for you to be in a relationship where only one person was committed." Sakura stated honestly.

"It would."

"Naruto stop being so nice! Hate me for what I did! That's the only way I'll forgive myself!!" The pink-haired girl covered her mouth with her small hand and held back the tears that started to form in the corners of her emerald eyes.

"I'm sorry, but… I just can't bring myself to hate you, Sakura."

Hearing those words coming from the tan boy made the tears pour from Sakura's eyes at an uncontrollable rate. She did not look up at the blonde, but she still knew that he was wearing a handsome smile that could melt any person's heart. She sobbed into her hand and then wiped away the tears that streamed down her slightly pink cheeks (though it was unless to wipe them away, for more just replaced them instantly).

"I still want to be around you. Can we try to be friends?" the blonde asked as the smile that he wore upon his young face grew warmer and his tone became more cheery. Sakura looked at the boy before her for the first time since they had stared wide-eyed and shocked at the other when they accidentally met up moments ago. The warm smile on her ex-boyfriend's face made her shame and sadness disappear momentarily and she gave him a pitiful smile.

"Naruto. I'm still not ready to be around you just yet." Sakura answered sullenly. "But when I am ready, I hope we can still be friends too."

The young girl gave him a small smile and then turned away from him quickly and retreated back into the TJTV room. Naruto watched his ex-girlfriend walk away from him and then he let out a long, heavy sigh. Suddenly the bell that signified that there was only five minutes left to get to homeroom on time rang, which caused the blonde-haired boy to jump and panic. While murmuring about how he was going to be late to homeroom, he ran down the rest of the hallway and then ran up the stairs, hoping to whatever higher being would listen that he could make it in time.

Mere seconds before homeroom started, Naruto rushed into the small classroom and took his seat next to Sasuke, whom seemed to have somehow beat him up here.

"You're fast." Naruto said as he breathed out heavily while sitting down in his seat.

The raven then realized that he had officially spent too much time with the blonde-haired boy beside him for he thought, for only a second, that the statement that Naruto just said could be taken as a perverted one. He hoped that Naruto would not realize what he said and just let it go.

"Sasuke, have you gotten any acceptance letters from colleges yet?" Naruto asked after a few minutes of setting his books down upon his desk.

The pale boy let out a sigh of relief. Naruto's dense nature was truly a blessing at times. "Yeah, I did." Sasuke answered calmly as he pulled out a folder from his backpack. He had an English vocabulary quiz second period and he needed to study for it. "I got one from Edinboro, Pitt and CalU (1). Why?"

"Just wondering."

"You're still planning on going to Edinboro with me, right?" Sasuke asked as he gave his friend a confused expression and turned in his seat so that he could face the blonde beside him.

"Well, I'm planning but…" Naruto paused to look away from the raven-haired boy. "I haven't gotten a letter back from them."

"Well it's just October, man. There's still plenty of time."

"But Edinboro's the only college I applied to! I've wanted to go there since I was fourteen and Itachi's friend Deidara told us about how great the school was."

"You'll make it in." Sasuke replied back with confidence hidden in his stoic voice.

Naruto gave his best friend a curious glance and then leaned closer to the raven in hopes that he would elaborate on why the pale boy thought that he had any chance to get into a school like Edinboro University. "What makes you think that, huh?" The tan boy questioned.

"You give yourself such little credit. Sure you may not be an honor student, but you're going to major in art. You're good at art, Naruto. You'll get in."

While it's true that the blonde was talented in art, he did not believe that his skills were satisfactory enough to make into Edinboro from them alone. He sighed and slumped into his seat and stared out the window, only to see the gray dismal sky that looked at if it would start to pour rain from the gloomy clouds at any moment. "I just want to get a letter soon so I can stop worry so much."

"It'll come." Naruto sighed once again and soon the two boys started doing their forgotten homework from the weekend that was not yet completed.

--

It had become a ritual for him. Everyday after school Naruto would stared at his black, metal mailbox, willing it to produce the certain piece of mail that he long to find ever since he had sent in his college application.

The small piece of metal had yet to bend to his will and give him the desired letter.

Inhaling deeply, Naruto opened up the mailbox cautiously and closed his bright, blue eyes shut so that he could put off spotting the certain letter for as long as possible. Once the mailbox was completely open, the blonde peeked at the inside of the metal container to see a small bundle of letters, magazines, and bills. Slowly he removed the bundle of mail from the mailbox and looked at each letter carefully.

He sighed when he saw that not only had he not received a letter from Edinboro University, he had not received any mail at _all_(2).

With a heavy heart, Naruto closed his mailbox once again and walked up to his garage door, opening it with the number pad that hung on the brick wall beside the large garage door. The door slowly moved up, making as much noise as it possibly could, while still working properly, and Naruto did not even wait for the door to open all they way before he crouched down under the rising door and slide underneath.

Naruto pressed the button beside the door that lead to his house once the garage was silent, meaning that the large door had risen up above the garage completely now, and let the metal door slide back down the track to close.

When the blonde-haired boy entered into his house, he sighed once again and set the large bundle of mail down on the computer desk and then climbed over the back of the couch so that he could plop his body down on the comfortable piece of furniture. Naruto let out another sigh and let his blue eyes close once again.

He soaked in the silence of the room. It had been a week since his mother had moved out of the house and the young boy was still feeling the effects of her departure. Normally when the tan boy would come home from school, his mother would be sitting on the loveseat, which sat parallel to the couch that Naruto currently resided on, at the other end of the living room. Naruto remembered how Kushina would always look up from her laptop to see him walking in through the door, which lead into the garage. She would smile as she pushed away her laptop that would always be sitting beside her while she sat with her legs tucked underneath her body. The redhead then would beckon the blonde over to herself and Naruto could still hear her sweet voice in his head.

"_Welcome home, Naruto."_

The blonde rolled over onto his side, trying to rid himself of a memory of his mother that he would, most likely, never see again. The blonde let out a soft chuckle when he realized that he was thinking of his mother as if she had died.

Naruto lied down on the couch for quite sometime, until he heard the loud chiming produced by his doorbell. With a confused look on his face, he sat up from the couch and walked over to his front door. When the tan boy opened the door, he found himself face to face with the last person he thought that he would ever see… Umino Iruka.

"Hi there." The brunette said in a cheery voice once Naruto had completely opened the front door.

A short moment of silence passed through the two males as Naruto continued to look at the older man in confusion and Iruka just gave a warm smile, hoping that the blonde would stop gawking at him.

But it continued on.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in a puzzled tone. The blonde had not meant to sound rude, but he realized that he might have come off as such to the older man standing before him.

"I was hoping that I could take you out for your birthday. Sort of a belated birthday present, since I didn't have the pleasure of seeing you since your birthday."

The tan boy was certainly not expected that answer from his mother's new boyfriend. Thus, this caused the shorter of the two to pause for another awkward moment of nothing but silence passing between the two of them.

"Naruto?" Iruka asked slowly.

"I don't want to go out." The blonde then started to close the front door to his home when the scarred man stopped the wooden door from closing.

"Please, Naruto. Give me a chance. I really want us to get along." Iruka pleaded as he tried to make the blonde open the door once again.

"We can get along without having to spend quality time together like this." Naruto grumbled under his breath as he tried to remove Iruka's hand.

"I promise you'll have a good time."

"What makes you so sure?" Naruto retorted.

Iruka then quickly pulled an envelope from his pocket and pushed it into the blonde's chest for him to take it. Naruto reluctantly stopped trying to close his front door and took the envelope into his hands to look at it better. It had no writing on it at all, which made the tan boy give an odd look of confusion as he flipped over the small package in his hands. He opened up the paper envelope and removed its contents.

Naruto's jaw almost detached from the rest of his skull as it dropped wide open from shock.

He quickly moved his gaze from the contents of the envelope up to the brunette standing in his doorway with a warm grin on his handsome face. Naruto said nothing, or was unable to say anything, and let his blue orbs wander back over to the envelope.

"C-Concert tickets!" He shouted with astonishment covering his secret joy.

"I've liked that band for a long time, too," Iruka replied honestly to Naruto's articulate answer. "And I had originally planned to get just myself a ticket, by then your mother told me that you also really liked that band. So… I thought you would like to go see them with me."

The blonde remained silent once again. His blue eyes sparkled with excitement as he dropped the paper envelope and held the two concert tickets tightly in his hands.

"So would you like to go?"

"YES!" Naruto replied quickly, startling the brunette slightly. The blonde then coughed and turned his face away from the older man, embarrassed from his last statement. "I mean… I'll go. Since you went through all the trouble to get these."

Iruka laughed which caused Naruto pout momentarily. The blonde then joined in on the laugh. He had to admit. He had acted quite funny when he agreed to go with Iruka to the concert. "All right then. Go get ready. The sooner we leave, the closer we can be to the band."

With those words, Naruto handed the concert tickets back to Iruka and rushed up into his room to change out of the his school clothes and into something much more appropriate for a concert. The blonde would not be caught dead at a concert in the same old sweats that he threw on in the early morning for school(3).

Within mere minutes, the blonde reemerged from his house and ran over to the brunette's car that Iruka had parked in the driveway to Naruto's house.

--

(1) All real universities, just in shortened versions. In order: Edinboro University, University of Pittsburgh and University of California.

(2) I get all depressed when I don't get any mail. Even if it's just a bank statement, I'm happy to get something XD ha.

(3) That's what I do in the morning. And why not? I don't need to impress anyone at my school by wearing pretty things. And… sweats are comfy X3.

* * *

**Deidara was mentioned, because I love him. :pause: And because my sister _did_ have a friend that went there and told me about the school. And the name of the band that Naruto is going to go see is not mention… because I want Iruka and Naruto's taste in music to be mysterious. So… feel free to think up any band that you like and put it in there. It's not like I can stop you… Or can I? :thinking:**

**Anyway… Not much else to say here. Review purdy plez.**


	10. It's Fighting

**:sigh: I really wish I had more time to write right now. I'm so busy with stuff. Ugh. This summer has already been loaded with shit ((and it's not over yet!)). I mean, I've had lots of graduation parties ((including my own)) and I went on one vacation and I'm taking a second one the first week of August. Possibly a third if my friends gets a trailer for us to use for a week. :another sigh: I really want some free time to myself so that I can write.**

**I'm hoping to finish this story by the end of summer, but that won't happen. There's too much I want to put in here and I'm not updating at a fast enough rate ((I'd have to update everyday to finish by the end of summer)). Oh well… enough about my stress. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But ever since I cosplayed as Ino I've been referring to myself as her so ((according to the pairing that you like best)) I could own Shikamaru, Chouji, Sasuke or Sai. :3 I'm good with either of those choices.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. Now the choice is yours. You can choose the back button and go back to your ordinary life and forget any of this ever happened… Or, you could choose to read on and I'll show you just how far the rabbit hole goes. :pause: I so did not steal that from the Matrix.**

* * *

Tuesday morning rolled around sooner than Naruto had hoped it would. Because he had spent most of the night with Iruka at the concert, to which the older man had gotten tickets, the blonde had not gotten home until two in the morning.

That would not have been so bad for Naruto, since the blonde has had night where he has stayed up later for one reason or another, but when he did arrive at his home, he had to spend an entire hour explaining to his father where he was and why he was not able to hear his cellphone ringing for six hours straight (due to the very loud, make-you-bleed-from-your-ears music). Minato was very angry and Naruto deduced that it was simply because he was out all night with Iruka, the very same man for whom his mother had left his father.

Naruto was finally able to get to sleep around three in the morning, since he had to argue with his father because the older man had grounded him for the rest of the week; reason being that he had stayed out so late without telling him.

The blonde let out a sigh as he and Sasuke strolled into their homeroom and took their regular seats in the small classroom.

"So what's up with you?" Sasuke asked in a slightly annoyed tone. He had sat through an entire car ride without the blonde saying a single word to him or even looking at him. Sasuke had enough of the tan boy ignoring him and acting so depressed and tired. He wanted an explanation as to his best friend's strange behavior and he wanted it now!

"Sorry. My dad's all jealous because I was out late with Iruka last night." The blonde huffed.

"Iruka?"

"My mom's boyfriend, remember?" Naruto said, recalling the night before his birthday when he and Sasuke had discussed the entire day that he had spent with the scarred man and his mother and the big fuss that he had caused during dinner.

"You're calling him by his first name now?" One of Sasuke's thin eyebrows lifted upward in confusion. He could have sworn that last time that Naruto and himself had spoken about the matter that the blonde still disliked the brunette, but could stand being around him for small periods of time. Going out for an entire night with someone that the blonde supposedly hated was news to the raven-haired boy.

"Iruka's not as bad as I thought he was." The blonde replied. "He took me to a concert last night."

"He did what?" Sasuke said after a short paused. The raven had wanted to make sure that he had heard the slightly taller male correctly and had not heard something completely crazy by mistake.

"Yeah. Can you believe it? He's actual nice and really does want to get to know me and have me like him."

"Who would have guessed?" Sasuke said mostly to himself.

"But, yeah. My dad was initially mad when I got home at two, but he was reasonable until I said that I was out at a concert with Iruka. I swear, he's so incredibly jealous and paranoid that I'll start to like Iruka better than him or that he'll replace him as my dad. Can you believe that?" Naruto paused to looked back at the pale boys dark eyes. "I swear it's all part of a stupid mid-life crisis. My grandpa would laugh at my dad if he could have seen the way he's been acting."

"I guess it's understandable at least." Sasuke argued in a stoic tone of voice. "I mean you were with the person that stole his wife away."

Naruto pouted his lips when he heard Sasuke put what he had done in words. It sounded so cruel now that someone else had said it to him instead of the blonde just thinking about it in his head. "All right. So I can understand that." Naruto paused to look down at his desk and then jerked his head back up suddenly to continue talking to the raven-haired boy beside him. "But still. It's not like I'm going to have Iruka replace him! That's just crazy!"

"Well… that part may be because of the mid-life crisis." Sasuke stated, agreeing with Naruto about Minato having a panic attack because he was turning forty.

Naruto let out a sigh let his tan fingers runs through his unruly blonde locks, pushing his bangs off of his forehead and away from his blue eyes momentarily. "He's just been acting so weird ever since my mom left." Naruto confessed to his best friend as he let his gaze wander to no particular spot in the room. "I know that he's probably hurting a lot worse than anyone else involved, but…" the tan boy paused and let his blue orbs glance back to meet Sasuke's dark eyes, which had been focused on the taller boy's face ever since they had first walked into homeroom together. "I just want my old dad to come back." He felt his breath hitch in his throat when the blonde gave him a look filled with such confusion and sadness; It took all the will power the raven had to stop himself from pulling the other boy into a long embrace to comfort him.

Without knowing the right words to say, Sasuke merely kept silent and instead placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder as if he was telling the blonde that everything would be all right and that things would eventually go back to normal. Naruto gave the pale boy a small smile of gratitude, but Sasuke knew that the small gestures of kindness was not enough to ease his very confused mind.

--

For once in his entire life and much to his own surprise, Naruto was actually very thankful that he had been scheduled to work for the past three days in a row. Ever since that very day that he had told Sasuke about how strange his dad had been acting lately, the blonde had spent most of his time and energy toiling away at Rite Aid Pharmacy. And though he would probably look back on this event one day in the future and find himself mad, he was thankful that he did not have to spend time with his father and suffer through his mid-life crisis.

After Naruto had finished ringing up the last customer in the long line of people (that no one seemed to want to help him with), he looked down at the shelf below the cash register and glance at the digital clock on the phone.

'_Nine-forty.'_ He thought impatiently to himself as he urged the clock to move forward with his eyes, but failing to do so. _'Just twenty minutes left to go and I can go home and pretend that I'm too tired to stay up.'_

The blonde looked around the front of the small store and saw that there were hardly any customers left, let alone anyone who looked ready to check out at the current moment. He placed a closed sign on the cash register and returned back to the isles of products, making sure that they were all in proper alignment.

Time seemed to go by painfully slow as the blonde just used the last moments that he had in the store, lazily strolling down the isles, doing only an adequate job at setting up the items on all the shelves.

"Naruto!" a familiar yet unwanted voice yelled out to the blue-eyed boy as he was straightening a few items on the hair products isle. He looked up in surprised as saw Orochimaru glaring at him and standing at the front of the isle with his arms cross, as if he was expecting the tan boy to come to him before he finished talking. Grumbling to himself, Naruto got up from his knees and slowly walked over to the pale, older man and gave him the best stoic expression he could muster up.

"Yes?" he asked once he was within a few meters of the older man.

"Go count your register and then you're free to go for the night." The raven-haired man said quickly and then walked away from the blonde's sight. Naruto ginned to himself once he was sure that his boss was nowhere in sight and happily walked over to his register and quickly organized it.

Once Naruto was finished, he punched out and gave the register to Orochimaru quickly and ran out the door, saying good buy the older woman who worked in the One Hour Photo Developing station beside the front registers. He was happy that for once Orochimaru did not ask him to stay behind and help clean up (for it was always either him or Sasuke that were his only choices to help clean up the store after closing).

The blonde walked out of the self-opening door and immediately pulled out his cellphone and began dialing his home phone to call his dad for a ride home, when he noticed a familiar car right in front of the small store. His blue eyes widen as he looked into the slightly tinted window of the car and saw a certain brunette that seemed so intent on the two of them spending time together.

"Iruka?" Naruto said in a confused tone as the blonde teenager walked over to the driver's side of the car and looked at Iruka's smiling face as the older man put down the slightly tinted window.

"Hey there, Naruto." The scarred man replied with a genuine smile.

"… What are you doing here?" the blonde asked after a short pause. The question had been bugging him for only a short time, but it needed to be asked.

"I thought I'd be nice and pick you up from work, since you don't have your own car yet." Iruka replied as he motioned for the younger of the two to get in on the other side of the new looking vehicle. Naruto climbed into the brand new looking Civic, reluctantly, and looked over at the brunette with a nervous smile playing on his lips.

"Uh… Thanks for this, Iruka."

"No problem, Naruto." The older man said with a smile.

"But I feel kind of bad." The blonde replied back as he scratched the back of his neck; his fingers playing with the ends of his unruly blonde locks as he tried to force out the proper words he wanted to say, without hurting the scarred man's feelings. "I mean… you live so far away. This has to be an inconvenience to you."

"I was actually out getting some groceries, so it wasn't more than two minutes out of my way." Iruka gave the blonde a reassuring smile and Naruto could feel guilt building up in the pit of his stomach. The blonde quickly stole a glance to the back of the car and noticed no signs of anything that even resembled groceries in the car. Naruto was almost positive that there was not going to be anything in the trunks of the car that was similar to groceries either. The thought that Iruka had lied to cover (almost completely) for his random act of kindness just made more guilt pile up in the blonde's stomach, making him feel slightly queasy.

"You're really too nice for your own good." Naruto mumbled, not meaning to say that thought out loud. He blushed when he realized that his mother's boyfriend had heard him and he quickly tried to think of something else to say in order to save himself from his previous statement.

"I'll take that as a compliment." The older of the two laughed, which made Naruto feel silly about his worries over how the brunette would have taken his statement. Naruto eventually joined in his laughter (albeit his laughter was not as jubilant as the other).

The laughter died down and then Iruka started up his car once again and pulled out of the small parking lot that lay around the pharmacy building. The two males in the car sat mostly in a silence (which was neither peaceful nor awkward, but somewhere in between the two adjectives) as the brunette drove on to their destination. The drive was never a long one from the pharmacy to Naruto's home, but it felt that the trip took a little longer with Iruka. The blonde decided that the small amount of time that seemed to add itself onto the journey was nothing more than his imagination or just due to really bad traffic.

"We're here." Iruka announced after he carefully maneuvered his brand new looking silver car into the driveway to the blonde's home. He absent-mindedly recalled his girlfriend telling him how the house along this street all looked very much the same to one another and that it was even worse in the dark. Though the brunette had experienced that problem yesterday when he had come to pick up the blonde-haired teenager for the concert. After recalling the memories of how freaky the houses looked on this street the brunette was a little nerved, but let the fact go and gave the younger boy beside him a warm smile of farewell.

"Thanks." Naruto said softly as he grabbed onto the door handle and opened the passenger door slightly. "And you really didn't have to do that." The tan boy reiterated once again so that the scarred man would hopefully get the thought stuck into his, obviously, very stubborn mind.

"Okay, okay. I get it. Now go on inside." Iruka then patted the teenager on his shoulder and sent him out of his car.

Blue eyes scanned over the push pad along the sidewall by the large garage door as tan fingers punched in numbers that had been remembered by heart long ago: the loud buzz and churning of gears from the garage door filled the entire neighborhood. Naruto let his gaze drift back toward the silver car and the man inside of it one last time before he returned his attention to the garage door that seemed to take a liking to lifting up very slowly.

Eventually the blonde decided to not wait until the door was completely open and ducked down under the mechanically door and ran toward the only entrance into his home from the spacious garage. He pressed another button beside the door and the garage door stopped lifting up, and with another push of the button the door started to slowly fall down, all while it created just as much noise as it had while it was raising upward.

Naruto closed the door behind him as he stepped into his home. As he kicked off his shoes he tried to keep as quiet as possible, though he suspected that his father would already know that he was home, considering how utterly loud the garage door had been only moments ago. The blonde crept into his living room and before he could even make it to the base of the stairs, he heard his father's voice call out to him.

"Naruto?!" Minato yelled as the younger blonde could hear the shuffling of bed sheets, making the tan boy believe that his father was just lying around in bed like he usually did after coming home from work. "Is that you?!"

"…Yeah!" Naruto reluctantly stated as he walked over to the base of the stairs, which was located right before the entrance into his father's bedroom. The younger of the two gave a sheepish grin to the elder as he slowly made his way to the large room. Naruto let his body lay against the doorframe as he awaited the onslaught on questions that were going to spew from his father's mouth.

"How did you get home?" was Minato's obvious question, one that Naruto really did not want to answer.

"Uh… In a car." Naruto knew that his father was more than likely going to kill him for being so sarcastic and avoiding the question, but he hoped that his father's sense of humor would kick in any moment now and let him off the hook.

"Naruto." Minato said sternly. The young blonde's attempts did not work.

"I got a ride home." Naruto answered with a little more detail, but it was not enough for Minato to be satisfied with, so the questions continued on.

"From _who_ did you get a ride?" That was the question. Naruto gulped and thought of all the possible responses that he could come up with for that question. He could have said Sakura, but his father knew that even if the pink-haired girl had worked that night that she and Naruto had broken up and that situation would be very unlikely. He could have said that Sasuke drove him home, but then he would have asked why the raven-haired boy had not stopped in for a little bit, considering that always seemed to happen whenever the two of them came home from work together (Sasuke would always reason that situation with his curfew was eleven at night so another hour or so out was better than being alone in his house).

The blonde sighed in defeat, unable to come up with a believable lie. "Iruka drove me home." Recollection suddenly made its way onto Minato's face as he heard the name of Kushina's new lover. He glared at his son unconsciously associating him with the man that he detested so much.

"Umino Iruka?" Minato questioned, even though he knew the answer already. The older of the two just wanted confirmation from his only son that the man was in fact the very same brunette that had stolen away his wife.

"…Yeah." Naruto confirmed.

Minato glared at his son once again and quickly marched up to the smaller (but not by much) of the two and looked down at his son's blue eyes that tried so hard to avoid his father's piercing gaze. "Why on earth would let that man drive you home? Why didn't you call me to pick you up?"

"I… I was going to call you." Naruto replied honestly as he looked up at the man whom looked almost identical to himself. "I had my cellphone out and everything, but then I saw Iruka's car in the parking lot and he surprised me by showing up! I would have felt bad if he had come all that way to get me and then refused to let him take me home!"

"But you should have done that!" Minato yelled. "You hardly know this man! You should have just said that I was on my way!"

"Why?!" Naruto retorted, finally feed up with all the accusing stares and the suspicious tone in his loud shouts that his father was giving him ever since he had entered the house. "Because you don't want me to be around him! Is that why, Dad?!"

"Don't talk back to me like that!"

"But it's true, isn't it?!" Naruto yelled back. Minato paused, stunned by his own son's accusations. The older blonde quickly recovered his composure and his stern glare returned full-force.

"I said, don't talk to me like that. I'm your father and you will treat me as such."

Naruto returned his father glare with one of his own, albeit slightly less vicious since the younger boy's large eyes did not hold the same seriousness that his father's did. Knowing that he could never intimidate his own father and just wanting the fight between himself and his father to end, Naruto retreated slightly and then began to climb the stairs that led to the second floor of his house.

"Come back here, Naruto." Minato said as he walked out of his room and grabbed onto the banister that followed along the stairs, looking up at his son's back. "Don't walk away from me like this."

The blonde knew that nothing would be accomplished if he were to choose to not listen to his father and continued to walk upstairs so that he could barricade himself in his room. But he also knew that nothing would be gained if he were to turn around and continue on with the fight between himself and the elder blonde. Naruto did not turned around. His own right hand gripped the handrail, just like his father's right hand was doing, but he could not see that the older man was standing in almost the exact same pose as himself.

Fingernails dug into the finished wood as Naruto resisted the urge to turn around and scream his lungs out at his father. But he knew better. When his father was angry, he had always had a knack for frightening him with his stares and with the force of his yells when he was a young boy. The memories of being scared were still vivid in Naruto's mind.

"…" The tan boy ignored his father's command and continued to quickly walk up the stairs and then strolled over to his door, choosing the first opinion that had made its way into his mind.

"Naruto!" Minato yelled placing his one foot on the bottom stair, still debating over whether or not he should follow his son. A loud thud of the door slamming shut stopped the older blonde completely from continuing his trek up the flight of stairs. Instead of egging on his son even further with their fight he choose to let the matter drop and return back into his own bedroom and closed the door quietly.

Naruto let his body lean and then slid down his wooden door slowly, until his body was in the a sitting position with both of his legs sprawled out along the floor with his head lay against the piece of wooden behind him. The young boy let out a sigh and tried to let himself calm down. The fights that he and his father had were rare, but they always had quite an effect on him. Naruto never liked truly arguing with anyone for whom he deeply cared. He always felt like with each argument a wedge was driven deeper in between him and the other person.

It was feeling that the blonde simple loathed.

Pulling out his cellphone from his pocket, Naruto typed out a message on the small keypad and sent the message, hoping that the recipient would still be awake to reply back. And, luckily, Naruto's wish was granted and his cellphone rung loudly with a reply. The blonde quickly opened up his phone once again and glanced at the message.

"_Yeah I'm awake. What did you want to talk about?"_ read the message as blue eyes scanned over the short text message once and then quickly starting to type a new message back to the person on the other end.

"Sasuke… can we… hang… out… tomorrow?" Naruto said softly to himself as he typed the same message onto his cellphone. "I don't… want… to be… around… my… father." And the message was sent after the blonde finished speaking.

Moments later the blonde received another message reassuring him that the blonde was more than welcome to hang out with the raven-haired boy the next day and that Sasuke would definitely want more details about what had happened with him and his father this time. The message made the blonde smile, but his smile was soon replaced by a frown when he was reminded by the loud hum of the television (mostly likely coming from his father's room) letting him know that his father was still in the house and, most likely, still angry.

Naruto sighed and decided tonight would be a good night to go to sleep early for a change.

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**I'm so glad that I was able to get so many days into this one chapter. Almost a whole week XD ha. That's good for me. But there wasn't really much going on in this week and soon I'll able to skip more days at a time, because things won't exactly be settling down, but they'll take place over longer periods of time. Yes. I think that's the right way to put it :nods:.**

**I'm sorry that the relationship between Minato and Naruto is so strained right now. But Minato acting different is actually a key factor, but that won't really be put into the story for a long time… Okay not really a long time, but _at least_ not for a few chapters. Think about that. Oh, and while you're at it… review will ya? I love to read them even if they are criticizing me!**


	11. It's Grandpa

**I really wish that I could have one of the people move in with Naruto in this fic. Cause I recently had one of my best friends move into my house for the rest of the summer. But it just doesn't have a place right now. Maybe somewhere in the future. :thinks: Yes. There actually, might be a spot for it. :evil plotting:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I do own… Dr. Tran. He's a full grown adult… and a doctor ((You are telling lies!!)). Okay no I don't own him :sniffle: TTTT.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. This content may not be suitable for young children, pregnant women, biased retards, reanimated zombies, people with severe injuries, mentally unstable monkeys, and you… No I mean the person behind you. The one with the knife.**

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"So why exactly did you want to hang out again?" Sasuke questioned as he looked down at his best friend from his spot on his back porch. The pale boy leaned against the old wooden railing and placed his hands into his pockets, already feeling the chilly autumn air blowing around his body.

"What?" Blue eyes looked up to meet dark ones and gave a slightly shocked expression. The blonde had known that his friend was going to ask him about his reasons for wanting out of his house so badly, but the suddenness of the question took him completely off guard.

Sasuke sighed as he let his gaze wandered away from his friend, whom still sat beside him on the old wooden porch with his long legs dangling over the edge, grazing the dead, yellow grass beneath him. "Why did you want to get away from your father?"

"Oh." Naruto replied, also looking away from his friend. "We fought last night."

"About what?" Sasuke asked, genuinely interested in what his friend had to say. He had hoped that the blonde could keep on good terms with the last remaining family member that lived with him, but it seemed that even now the hope was failing.

"Iruka drove me home last night." Naruto sighed and he slumped his arms over the lower beam of wood along the banister.

"… That's all?" Sasuke asked quite confused by how his best friend and his father could argue over something as trivial as that.

"Yeah! That was it!" Naruto said as he picked up his head and turned his attention back over to the raven-haired boy beside him. "My dad thinks that I'm trying to replace him! God! I wish he would just turn forty already and get over this whole mid-life crisis!" The blonde then threw his arms into the air and then let his hands land in his unruly blonde locks, which only managed to make his tangled hair more disheveled.

"That may just make it worse." Sasuke said with a small laugh.

"Ugh! I'll never go back home then." Naruto then let himself fall down onto his back and he sighed as he looked up at the gray sky above him. He could feel the sky wanting to pour down with rain, but insisted on holding it back until it was cold enough to become snow. The clouds always seemed to stop all precipitation once winter began to get closer and closer. "Can I move in with you?" Naruto asked half jokingly to the pale raven beside him.

"You practically live in my house anyways." Sasuke gave his friend a warm smirk, but Naruto's blue orbs were too focused on the dismal sky to notice the kind gesture that the youngest Uchiha gave him.

Another sigh slipped through the blonde-haired boy's lips as he let his arms slum over the wooden beam once again and rested his chin along the beam as well. He let his gaze peer up at the sky, which was slowly being over-taken by gray clouds that seemed to be trying to force away the last remnants that summer had left behind. The raven stared at his friend with a look of pity.

"How are you holding out?" he asked after the blonde showed no signs of starting up another conversation with the pale boy beside him.

"I'm holding… I guess." Naruto said, trying to force a small smirk onto his lips.

"I'm serious, Naruto. How have you been?"

"…" Naruto seemed to go deep within his own thoughts for an answer to his best friend's question. Sasuke was about to give up on his question, for the tan boy seemed to be taking an eternity to say something or anything that resembled an answer, when Naruto finally spoke up. "I guess… I'm not doing too well at all." He replied honestly.

Even though the blonde-haired boy wore such a sad expression on his face, Sasuke could not help but notice how the remaining light that the clouds let through was still able to light up his sullen blue eyes. Sasuke internally kicked himself for having such thoughts about his friend when he was obviously hurting so much. He felt that he should have been comforting the blonde, not ogling.

"I kind of…." The blonde paused to give a short chuckle filled with such morbid humor as he broke the silence that had settled between the two of them. "Just kind of want to disappear."

"…" Sasuke remained quite, only peering over at his best friend with a look so full of shock; the raven breath even hitch in his throat as he forgot that he needed air into his lungs.

"I'm just kidding." Naruto said noticing the silence that his friend gave him.

"That's not something that you should joke about." Sasuke said, his voice giving off an icy tone as his dark eyes narrowed at the tan boy beside him in a warning.

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle trying to make his friend drop the subject that he himself had accidentally brought up. "Okay, okay. I won't joke anymore."

Lips formed into a thin line as Sasuke's dark orbs continued there intense glared at the blue-eyed boy beside him, judging how serious Naruto actually was about what he had just mentioned. It was only for a moment, but he saw the blonde's cheery mask falter slightly and then return to its place on the blonde's young face. Dark eyes widened slightly as he noticed the slight mistake in the other boy's façade. Sasuke went to say something reassuring to the slightly taller boy beside him, but as the pale boy went to open his mouth he could think of nothing that could possibly make the blonde feel better.

Instead, the raven-haired simply raise his hand and let it lay upon the mess of unruly blonde locks, slightly ruffling the hair beneath his fingers as he flexed his fingers in the tangled strands. Naruto's eyes lit up with surprise as his cheek began to turn a light shade of red. Turning his attention to the other boy beside him, Naruto gasped when he had confirmed that it really was Sauke's hand that was resting on top of his head.

The blonde smiled at the small gesture of kindness that his friend showed him and he knew that this was the extent that his Uchiha pride allowed him to show to his friend. Suddenly finding a small amount of courage still left inside of himself, Naruto cleared his throat and let his blue orbs peer directly into Sasuke's own dark eyes.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto said suddenly, prying the raven and himself from the silence.

"Yeah."

"I… What I mean is, I've wanted to tell yo—" Naruto's sentence was cut short when the two boys heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, loudly. Footsteps then grew louder before the door that lead inside the large house opened suddenly to reveal the person responsible for the loud sounds and the one whom had interrupted the two boys' conversation.

"There you are, Sasuke." A woman with long black hair said as she gave the two young boys a warm smile. "We were wondering where you had gone."

"Hello mother." Sasuke said as he nodded his head toward the older woman. She closed her dark eyes tightly as she smiled back at her son.

"Hi mom!" Naruto cheered happily as he lean his head back far enough so that he could see Sasuke's mother, albeit up side down.

"Hello there, Naruto." She smiled down at her pseudo son. The blonde boy had adorned that title, obviously, because he was both Sasuke's best friend and because the young boy practical lived at the Uchiha household.

"Mikoto, have you found them?" A gruff voice coming from the inside of the large house called out to the lovely woman standing before the two teenagers.

"Yes, Fugaku dear." Mikoto called back to her husband. A softer grunt was the only reply and then the sound of retreating footsteps signified to the others on the porch that Sasuke's father was walking up the stairs, most likely to get to his room to change out of his work clothes.

"He's just a little grumpy right now." The raven-haired woman said as she placed her hand close to her mouth, acting as if she was telling the two boys a super special secret instead of the obvious truth. "He'll be better once he calms down a little." With that Mikoto closed the porch door and left the two boys alone once again.

"Has he been like that for a while now?" Naruto asked as he lifted his back forward and let his chin rest against the wooden beam like he had before Mikoto had interrupted them. Sasuke noticed that the blonde was no longer looking at him and instead had let his gaze wander back to the slowly browning scenery. The raven-haired boy could tell that his best friend was trying to avoid the previous topic, but his reason for doing so was a mystery even to him.

"Ever since I got suspended." Sasuke replied in an irate tone. "He's very disappointed that I'm starting to become like Itachi and that I'm not fitting into the _perfect mold_ that is necessary for all Uchiha."

"He's still on that?" Naruto asked letting his blue eyes wander back to his friend for a second.

"Yeah. It's annoying really." Sasuke sighed and pushed his long bangs back as he stroked his fingers through his raven locks. There was a short pause, but then Sasuke let his dark eyes fall back onto Naruto, which made the blonde feel a little nervous since Sasuke was now smirking down at him. "So Kiba told me that he's planning you a party."

Naruto let out a short laugh, embarrassed that he had thought that Sasuke was going to talk about something completely different. The blonde guessed that it was nothing but his dirty mind that had saw ulterior motives behind that smirk that his best friend wore and pushed those thoughts away. "Oh so he told you about that?"

"He wants to have it on Halloween."

"… Isn't that a Wednesday?" Naruto asked slowly, trying to understand what had gotten into the mind of their dog-loving friend when he thought up that crazy plan.

"Yes. Which is why I told him to make it the Saturday before that." Sasuke replied calmly.

"Did he agree to that?"

"Yeah… Eventually. Once I told him that we were not going to play hooky the next morning." Naruto let out a short laugh at that. Kiba would be the type of person who would suggest that they all just skip school the next day instead of waiting for a weekend to come around to have it(1).

"Well," Naruto said after he was finished laughing over his friend's crazy ideas. "I'm sure it will be lots of fun. And it will be nice to just go crazy since we've been all busy with work and getting into college and stuff recently."

"Agreed." Sasuke said with a small smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Naruto let his gaze once again drift over to his best friend and he could not help but blush slightly at the warm and friendly expression that graced over Sasuke's features. Even though he was one of the closest people to the raven, the pale boy hardly ever let his stoic mask slip from his face.

"Sasu—" Naruto was then cut off from finishing his statement once again, but the fault did not fall onto Sasuke's parents this time. Instead the thing that had interrupted the two boys was none other than the blonde's cellphone, blasting his ringtone, which Sasuke recognized as one of those songs that was from a band whom would rather shout their lungs out than sing at a quieter level. "Hold on." Naruto said as he fished the small device out of his front pocket and flipped open the phone as he placed it to his ear. "Hello?"

Sasuke stared at the blonde with a curious expression. It seemed as soon as Naruto stopped speaking and heard the voice on the other end, his blue eyes had lit up with recognition and happiness that Sasuke had not seen in the blonde's face for quite some time.

"PERVY SAGE! It's you!" Naruto shouted into his phone a second later, but then quickly turning to Sasuke with a wide grin plastered onto his face. "It's my grandpa(2)!"

Sasuke blinked at the sudden burst of energy that seemed to course through the blonde's being. He was a little frightened with the way that Naruto was acting right now. He knew it was a silly fear, but the raven was a bit nervous that the blonde was going to go crazy and snap on him suddenly. But of course he would never admit it.

"Really?!" Sasuke heard the blonde exclaimed with such joy. "Great! I can't wait!" There was a short pause on Naruto's end, more than likely because the older man was busy chatting to him. "Okay. Talk to you later then. Bye."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, trying to hide his curiosity but failing to do so.

"My grandpa is going to come down for a visit!" Naruto replied back with a large smile. Sasuke momentarily felt a hint of jealousy swell up inside him for he felt that it was unfair that Naruto's grandfather could make his best friend so happy when he was unable to cheer him up even the slightest bit. The raven kept his calm composure as he tried to remind himself that Naruto and Jiraiya were blood relatives and therefore closer to one another. But try as he might the jealousy remained.

"Cool." Sasuke lied. He felt guilty as he pretended to feel happy for his best friend.

"I can't wait to see him!" Naruto said as he absentmindedly let his gaze wander once again. "Oh, but I got to get home. He's said that he'll be up tomorrow and I don't want him to see the house like it is. My mom was the only one who ever cleaned so it's gotten _really_ bad." Naruto laughed as he got to his feet and looked down at the raven-haired boy still sitting down along the wooden porch.

"All right then." Sasuke replied half-heartedly. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later." Naruto called out as he began to run down the wooden steps and then along the steep cement driveway.

Sasuke sighed once again now that he was left alone on the old wooden porch. He let his forehead rest against one of the wooden beams, quite similar to how Naruto had been positioned on the porch before he had left to go clean up his house. The young Uchiha knew that he really should not feel jealous toward Naruto's grandfather, but he just could not help but wish that he could have been more help to the depressed blonde.

Leaning against the wooden beam, Sasuke let the fact that he would be nothing more to Naruto than just a friend sink in further into his mind. The raven prayed that he would finally let go of any hope that he had left for a relationship with his best friend.

Because that's all that Sasuke could ever hope for they to be. It was enough. At least that what the raven continued to tell himself.

--

(1) I actually had suggested this to my friends. That we skip school the day after Halloween, that is. It didn't end up happening, but it was a fun thought.

(2) Everyone who guessed that Jiraiya was his grandfather is correct. I told you guys that he was going to come into the story soon. And I'm using "Pervy Sage" as his nickname in this story instead of "Ero Sennin" because this is set in America ((more specifically Pittsburgh)) and normal people don't use Japanese nicknames ((unless you're me or my friends XD ha, ha))

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**My power actually went out one night while I was writing this and I forgot to save so I had lost a chunk of this chapter. I was a little peeved, because that meant that I would have to write it over again… BUT then I realized that the second time I wrote it, the story went a lot better. So yay for me forgetting to save things!! XD ha, ha.**

**Okay so nothing really happened this chapter. It's basically just them talking, BUT it is important stuff that they are getting off their chest. Emotions are fun :D ha. More will happen next chapter, because Naruto will be with Jiraiya and nothing wholesome can come from that :laugh:.**

**Review please!!**


	12. It's Dying

**I'm really sorry about not updating for a while. I had my aunt and her daughter take over my room 24 hours a day for week so I couldn't get to my computer and then i went on vacation and didn't have any way to get to a computer D:. It made me very sad.**

**Heh. I have to say that I'm really excited about this story. I still have so much that I want to put into this story and it's already up to chapter twelve. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those stories are ((dare I say it)) close to **_**fifty chapters**_**! Well with how time is going in my story as of right now, I would not be surprised. But I'm not getting my hopes up too much. Let's just say that it will definitely be over thirty chapters w hee.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But my friends did get me the me the Sasuke™ Fire Attack™ so now I can spit four plastic projectiles at you all!! Next it'll be the Zabuza Sword™!! ((It can cut through rice paper :D))**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. If you don't want to read it, then don't. Failure to comply with this simple request will result with a shoe shoved up in a very uncomfortable area in between your thighs and your spine. Guess where it is :3.**

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Naruto had never been glad in his laugh to not have school than he had been on this particular Saturday morning. He had spent the remainder of his free time yesterday trying to make his home presentable, which said actions had utterly frightened his father when the older man had arrived home from work later that night. He was unsure if his son was ill at first when he saw the usually messy boy cleaning the living room, but once Naruto had explained his reason behind the cleaning spree, Minato only _half_ believed that the blonde-haired teenager was crazy.

But now that Naruto had finally deemed his house to be clean enough (most of the actually cleaning that the blonde had done was just put thing back where they belong), he let his body collapse onto his very comfortable couch and let himself relax.

The blonde did not know exactly what time his grandfather was supposed to arrive to his house, but he had gotten himself up early just incase the older man had come by earlier in the day. Though Naruto knew that the old man would probably not even be up by now, let alone be on his way here.

His thoughts were proven false when the blonde-haired teenager heard the doorbell ring loudly through his house and momentarily glance at his father's bedroom door to see if the loud ringing had woken up his father.

When the tan boy did not hear any sound coming from behind the white-painted door, he slowly pulled his body off the couch and walked over to his front door. Naruto opened the front wooden door and was ecstatic to see his grandfather's bright cheery, yet wrinkled face starring at him from behind the second glass door. Quickly opening the second door, Naruto smiled brightly at the older man, his blue eyes lit up with excitement.

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya said with equal enthusiasm.

"You've gotten so old." Naruto tease as he took a hold of the suitcase that sat next the older man and lead into the house.

"Hey, watch it kid. I may be old, but don't think that I won't kick your ass for saying things like that." The two then laughed at the empty threat that Jiraiya gave and walked into the living room. The white-haired man stared around the room and wondered why it was so quite in the house. "Hey, where's your dad?" he asked finally realizing that Minato was missing in action.

"Still sleeping." Naruto said as he placed his grandfather's suitcase beside the staircase that led upstairs.

"That won't do." Jiraiya said with a smirk as he slammed open Minato's bedroom door with as much force as he could put on the door without breaking the large piece of wood. "Get up already, lazy bum!" The older man stormed into his son's bedroom and began to pry the younger man off his own bed.

"What the hell, dad?!" Minato shouted as he was pull of the comfortable mattress.

"I think it's sad that your own son was up before you." The white-haired man said with a sly smile on his lips.

"My own son doesn't work for ten hours straight." Minato yawned as he was further pulled from the bed.

"No excuses! Go get ready and then we'll all go out for breakfast." Jiraiya said loudly as he pushed his son into his private bathroom, which was connected only to the blonde-haired man's bedroom, and gave his grandson a big, toothy grin.

Naruto mimicked his grin and threw his arms into the air. "Cool! I'm starved!"

"How am I going to handle both of you in my house at one time." Minato mused to himself as he closed the bathroom door, wishing that he could have just gone back to sleep; though he knew that such a thing would never happen with his father around. Minato swore that the older man just loved to torture him at times.

--

"_And then after we went out to eat, Pervy Sage insisted that we go out and do something as a family and made my dad pay for all of us to go to Fright Night at Kennywood_(1)_!"_

"That's very interesting, Naruto. Really." Sasuke replied, so _enthused _to hear about Naruto fun-filled day with his grandfather right after he had just gotten home from working for seven hours straight. He sighed silently as he pushed his cellphone closer to his ear.

"_It was so funny to see Pervy Sage dragging my dad around the park."_ Naruto replied happily from the other end of the phone. _"You know how he gets with rides that spin around a lot. His face turned so green!"_

"Heh. Now that would have been funny to see." Sasuke stated as he let his body collapse on his soft mattress while his gaze focused on the white ceiling above him.

"_Well he's still kind of throwing up if you really want to see him sick."_

The raven heard the blonde laugh and could not help but give a small chuckle of his own, even though he really did not find the fact that Minato was sick that funny. It was simply that Naruto's cheery attitude was somewhat contagious. "No. I really don't need to see that."

Naruto laughed again from the other end of the phone call. _"I hope we do something fun tomorrow." _The blonde paused for a moment, which made the raven concerned as to why the blonde had simply stopped talking. _"But it's weird. He's never usually so eager to do stuff with me or my dad."_

"He could just have missed you guys." Sasuke reasoned, hoping that it would be a good enough excuse for the tan boy.

"… _I guess that could be it." _Naruto reluctantly answered.

"Just don't worry about it, Naruto." Sasuke said, noticing how depressed his best friend was beginning to sound. The last thing he wanted was for his friend to be sad and depress, while he was stuck at his home, helpless to do anything about it. "The only thing that matters it that your grandfather is there with you. Just make the most of this visit."

"_I guess you're right." _Naruto replied, his tone still sullen.

"Of course I'm right. Unlike you, I actually think from time to time."

"_HEY!!"_ Naruto yelled through the phone, causing the raven to drop his cellphone so that he could plug his fragile ears hoping to block out the loud sound and stop the damage to his eardrums.

"Relax, moron. It was a joke." Sasuke said as he removed his hands from his ears.

"_Tch. Whatever."_ Naruto responded, knowing full well that Sasuke was only joking with him. The blonde loved to feign anger and mood swings with his overly stoic friend all the time since it always lead to funny situations (and after years of doing so, it had become sort of second nature). _"I should go to bed soon. If I accidentally wake up my dad, he'll get pissed."_

"Okay. I guess I'll see you Monday, then." Sasuke replied, secretly happy that after a long day at Rite Aid Pharmacy he could just relax and get some much deserved sleep.

"_You should hang out with me and my grandpa tomorrow! Pervy Sage loves having you around!"_ Naruto's voice became twice as hyper and filled with such excitement that Sasuke had not heard for at least a good minute. It seemed that once the subject of the blonde's grandfather came up, Naruto was suddenly full of energy and overly enthusiastic, which were two traits that a sleep-deprived Uchiha was not willing to handle at the moment.

"I wouldn't want to intrude—" Sasuke began to say, but was cut off by a suddenly hyper blonde on the other end of the phone.

"_Nonsense!"_ Naruto shouted, a little too loudly. _"Come on. It'll be fun."_

A soft sigh escaped from the raven's lips as he let his head hang limply in defeat. He just could not refuse the blonde's pleading, even if it was over the phone. "All right. I'll come with you."

"_Heh. You said '_come _with you.'"_ Once Sasuke had begun to hear the muffled giggling of his immature friend, he had definitely had enough of this conversation.

"Goodbye, Naruto." The youngest Uchiha said forcefully before hanging up his cellphone and leaving the blonde to giggle at his own perverted joke by his lonesome self. Suddenly feeling more exhausted than he could remember himself ever being in his life, Sasuke rolled over onto his side and let sleep take over him completely.

--

Minato exited out of his bathroom and let his tired and worn out body fall lifelessly onto his own bed. He was exhausted from the big and excited day that he had spent with his father and his son and the only thing that he wanted to do now was sleep.

But it would seem that he would not be able to do that. "Minato? You awake?" Jiraiya called as he opened the blonde-haired man's bedroom door.

He gave a sigh and sat up from his spot on his bed. "Yes." He called back to the white-haired man.

"Heh. All you seem to want to do is sleep these days. You're getting old." Jiraiya teased as he gave his son a big, toothy smirk. The smile was definitely something that was passed down through the bloodline considering that both Minato and his son have been caught giving the same expression that the older man just gave.

"I'm still not as old as you." Minato retorted back with a smirk of his own.

"But I'll always be more fun than you."

"What was your real reason for coming down here, dad?" Minato asked seriously, all previous joking pushed aside. His blue eyes focused solely on the white-haired man, whom seemed to have been taken quite a ways back from his son's sudden humorless question.

"…" Jiraiya paused and his own wide grin left his face and was replaced by a mocking smirk. "What? Can't a guy visit his family every now and then without a reason?" he asked letting his gaze drift over to meet Minato's intense stare.

"But to just tell me yesterday that you're going to come visit? The whole thing seemed to have come out of nowhere, if you ask me."

"Well it didn't." the older of the two retorted in a tone similar to that of a pouting child.

"Dad… Just tell me truth." Minato stated firmly. "I'm a big boy now. I can handle it."

The was a long silent pause, Jiraiya seemingly unwilling or unable to answer his son while Minato waited for some form of response from his father patiently. The two men seemed to stay motionless and speechless for hours, though in reality it was only minutes. Eventually Minato could no longer taken his father's silence.

"Well? What is it?" he demanded.

"You don't want to hear it." The white-haired man answered back with an equally serious and stern expression on his slightly wrinkled face. His eyes were now completely focused on the younger of the two and his jaw was set into a scowl, making the older man seem much more intimidating.

"Regardless of whether or not I want to hear it, I deserve to know why you suddenly showed up here."

"…" Jiraiya paused and then let his gaze wander over to the bedroom door. "Don't you dare tell Naruto this." The older man spoke forcefully.

"… Fine." Minato reluctantly agreed. He felt that his father was just being an over-grown child about this whole situation. First not telling him why he had called and said that he was coming down for a visit out the blue and then telling him that he could not even tell his own son why the white-haired man had come to their home. The blonde-haired man sighed, hoping that his father's excuse was at least a good excuse. He was going to kill him if it was something stupid (or what the blonde deemed stupid anyways).

"I'm dying." Jiraiya voice did not falter at all whilst he spoke, and his expression remained completely serious and calm.

Minato mouth fell open once the words had escaped from his father's lips. The blonde let out a small chuckle as he continued to stare at the older man in disbelief. "Funny, dad. Really funny." Minato said with sarcasm ringing throughout his words. "Now tell me the truth."

"That is the truth. I'm dying." Minato saw the unwavering seriousness that had seemed to permanently etch itself into the white-haired man's face.

A long and painful silence fell over the room. Minato sat on his bed, just waiting for his father to give any sign, just the tiniest sign, that this was really all a big joke and that he would laugh at his son for believing him for the rest of his visit here. But Jiraiya stood strong. Not yielding to the blonde's wishes and remaining perfectly serious.

When the sudden realization that his father was not lying to him, Minato froze, unable to find his voice nor was he able to will his body to move itself from his position on his bed. His father. His only father… was dying? The thought was just impossible for Minato's mind to fully accept.

"What?" he finally forced out of his lips. "D… Dying?"

"Yes." Jiraiya said with a long sigh. "I haven't told you, but I've been put in and out of hospitals for a year now. The tumor on my stomach that I had removed years ago, came back and things just keep shutting down in my body. I guess that's what years of alcohol will do to you. But, they've told me that since so many organs in my body are beginning to shut down, it's pointless to operate."

"…" Minato said nothing as he let his blue eyes drift down to the beige colored carpet beneath his feet. "How long… How long do you have?" The blonde-haired man forced himself to ask that question, knowing full well that he would hate any answer that his father would give him. But it needed to be asked. He felt his stomach tighten into knot painfully while his hands began to shake uncontrollably as they lay limply at his sides. His blue eyes closed, preparing himself for the answer that his father was going to give him.

"… They told me anywhere from two to five months." Jiraiya said unenthusiastically as he let his own gaze wander over to the only window in his son's bedroom.

Minato's hand gripped the covers over his mattress so tightly that his knuckle began to turn white, trying to stop his hands from shaking so badly. His teeth dug into his bottom lip, threatening to draw blood. "I won't tell Naruto." Minato assured his father after a moment's pause.

"Thank you." Jiraiya answered as he walked over to the blonde's bed so that he could take a seat beside his only son. The white-haired man placed his large hand on the younger man's shoulder and gripped onto it in a reassuring manner.

Tears rolled down Minato's handsome face almost immediately after he felt his father's hand being place on his quivering shoulder. He could not hold back his sobs any longer. After all, the blonde had just been told that his father was dying.

"Don't cry." Jiraiya said as he let his fingers rub along his shoulder.

"I'm not crying!" Minato forced out, trying to hide the sobs that tried to break through his lips.

Without any warning, Jiraiya wrapped his arm around his son and pulled the shaking man closer to his body, his hand gripping tightly at his shirt as he tried to hold back his own depression. The two men stayed like that for a long while, neither embarrassed nor ashamed.

Both of them were just happy to be able to be around the other one, since, as fate would have it, there would not be many more chances for times like these.

--

(1) Kennywood is a theme park located in Pittsburgh. It's really fun. You all should visit it sometime.

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**Yay! Jiraiya appears finally! I love that old man :hearts: XD. :pauses: And yeah… I'm a bitch. I know I'm going to get **_**sooo**_** much grief over killing him off, when he's just appeared in the story. And I'm sorry. And remember, I love him and this is not some personal vengeance cause I don't mean to have only him be the one dying or getting injure or whatever in my stories. He's just always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sorry again!**

**Oh sorry that it's short. I'll make it up to you guys with the next chapter! Naruto-Sasuke bonding! And Jiraiya-Minato bonding!! And Jiraiya-Minato-Naruto bonding!! Bonding all around!!**

**... Don't hurt me. D: Please.**


	13. It's Fun

**Sorry about not updating last week. I've decided that trying to finish the chapter by last Sunday was going to be too stressful. I'm surprised I got it finished at all, considering I started college tomorrow. Well I'll be returning back to updating this every other week, like I did before summer started. Sorry, but I have to put **_**some**_** time toward my studies. Some.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But I have this shirt that says "Strictly for my ninjas" and it has a few of the Naruto boys on it. Now, I'm confused. If Naruto was made by Kishimoto-sensei… why does the shirt say they are **_**my**_** ninjas?**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. It's okay. Just tell the Naruto gang that you didn't read one of their fanfcitions, because you didn't like the fact that it had Boy Love and language in it. They'll understand. ((NOT!)) XD**

* * *

"Dave and Busters(1)?" Sasuke asked as he read off the large sign that has positioned directly above the entrance way to the large building with an unsure look upon his face.

"Haven't you ever been here before?" Naruto asked as he looked over at his skeptical friend.

"No. Never had a reason to come here." He replied, annoyed that the blonde was trying hard to not laugh at his apparent lack of a social life.

"You live in Pittsburgh and you've never been to Dave and Busters? That's like living in New York City and never visiting the Statue of Liberty." Naruto let out a short chuckle, while the raven beside him inwardly fumed.

"No it isn't." the pale boy muttered under his breath.

"Even I've been here before and I live out in Lancaster!" Jiraiya said with hardy laugh as he slammed his large hand down on Sasuke's unsuspected shoulder, almost causing the raven-haired boy to come toppling down onto the cement beneath him. Sasuke grumbled to himself, feeling very embarrassed that someone at Jiraiya's age could have easily sent him down to the ground had he not been able to react quickly and catch himself.

"Enough picking on Sasuke, Pervy Sage." Naruto said as he put himself back into the conversation. Sasuke half wanted to point out to that the blonde was also putting in his two cents when it came to picking on him, but kept quiet, knowing that his friend would simply deny it. "Let's go in already!" the blonde-haired boy then ran off ahead of the small group and up to the glass door entrance.

"Naruto! Don't run off like that!" Minato called after his son as he had just caught up to the rest of the group. The older man had been busy making sure that his car was locked and safe, since he really did not trust leaving his car parked in Homestead. Especially since they were right next to the Waterfront shopping center(2). The older blonde just sighed as he stopped beside his father and 

started off in the direction that his rambunctious son ran toward. "Na--" Minato began to say, but was cut short, when his father interrupted him.

"He's gone already. Let him have his fun." Jiraiya said with a big smile.

"I'll go make sure he doesn't hurt himself." Sasuke let out an irritated sigh as he started walking off toward the entrance. Jiraiya let out a short chuckle as he heard the raven-haired boy mutter under his breath about how annoying his blonde-haired friend could be at times.

"Ah! Those two!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he slapped his son on his shoulder. "I've missed being around them. Always a bunch of laughs!"

Minato winced a little when the older man's hand collided with his back. He swore that his father either purposely used most of his strength to hurt people or really was oblivious to how much he was actually hurting others when he did that. "Yeah. Let's go help Sasuke keep an eye on Naruto." Minato let out a small laugh of his own and then he and his father walked into the large building, off to find the two teenagers whom had disappeared into the building just moments ago.

Lucky for the two older men, they saw that Naruto and Sasuke had not gotten very far and were standing at the front desk getting their game cards, which held electronic tickets to use toward games. Naruto, once done getting his card, looked over at spotted the two older men and gave them a smile as he waved his arm over to them.

"There you are, Naruto." Minato said, relieved that his son was not off running wild through the building just yet.

"Are you two getting game cards?" he asked, taking a few steps toward the two of them, holding up his orange Dave and Buster card to show the other men what he meant.

"I don't think w--" Minato began to say, but was cut off suddenly by the white-haired man standing next to him.

"Sure! Sounds like fun!" Jiraiya bellowed out, speaking for both himself and the confused blonde. Minato was about ready to scold his father for making him do something that he did not want to do, when he was suddenly dragged toward the front desk along with the white-haired man by his own son. The older blonde just sighed and accepted his fate peacefully and without any complaint. He knew that when his son and his father wanted something that there was no stopping them and there was no point in resisting.

Right in front of Minato was the young raven-haired boy, whom seemed to be even more annoyed and uncomfortable in this location than Minato, himself, felt. Sasuke turned around and stepped aside so that the older men could get their own games cards and stopped when he was right beside the younger blonde. The two turned to face Jiraiya and Minato before they began to order the game card from the woman behind the desk.

"We're gonna head in." Naruto said as he jutted his thumb behind him to indicate which direct the two of them were going. "We'll meet up with you later!"

"Uh… When exactly?" Minato asked, already not used to the loud music playing through the speakers al around the large room.

The blonde-haired boy looked over at his best friend for a moment, whom seemed to be either unsure of what time the four of them should meet up once again or who simple did not care whether they met up again or not. "Let's meet up at four, so we can go get something to eat." Naruto suggested, anxious to get to the fun and exciting games that lay less than twenty feet from where he stood, calling him toward them.

"All… All right." Minato called out to his son and the raven haired boy beside him before Jiraiya could push the blonde-haired man toward the front desk forcefully as the white-haired man waved to the two teenagers as they began to walk away from the older men.

Naruto pulled Sasuke away from his father and grandfather so quickly that the raven-haired teen was almost certain that his friend had given him whiplash. Though the blonde was now unaware of anything that was not involved with the Dave and Buster building and the many, many games within.

The two boys walked into the large game room, and the tan boy's blue eyes lit up with such excitement that would have expected to see in the eyes of a child as they walked into a toy store. The raven sighed at the blonde's immature nature, but was pulled from his thoughts when said blonde tugged on his wrist in order to get his attention.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out over the loud music, which was starting to give the pale boy a slight headache. "I see a DDR machine in the corner! Let's go play!"

Sasuke wanted nothing more at that point than to just disappear. "Anything but that, Naruto." Sasuke said; his tone of voice, had he not been trying to have his voice heard over the music, would have sounded as if he was pleaded for his life to be spared.

"Ah, come on!" the blonde replied.

It did not take long for the pale boy to have his will waver under the intense, pleading look at his best friend gave him. Naruto jutted out his bottom lip in such a cute manner and, if that were not enough, the blonde-haired boy actually began to feign tears swelling up in the corners of his big, blue eyes. "All right." Sasuke said begrudgingly as he turned his gaze away from the adorable face that the blonde made so that he would not fall under its hypnotic powers again.

A loud yelp left Naruto's mouth as he finally released his hold on Sasuke's thin wrist and jumped into the air momentarily with joy. No sooner had the blonde landed on the carpet covered cement floor had he once again grabbed onto the pale boy's arm and began to once again drag him off, only this time toward the Dance Dance Revolution machine in the corner of the large game room.

After the two of them swept their game cards into the machine, they took their positions on the brightly lit up metal pad. Sasuke looked down and carefully noted that the arrows on this particular machine were in the corners of the metallic dance mat, which was separated into nine squares, and the center square was also a step button. He was a little confused at the change in the mat, but then 

drew his attention back to the screen as Naruto went ahead and choose the song for them both. Sasuke prepared himself, knowing that this would be a little difficult since the squares had changed places on him, and did not let his dark eyes leave the screen.

When the song started, he wished he had never agreed to this in the first place.

"What the hell, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he tried to keep up with the fast moving arrows. The raven was good at the game, but, even for someone at his skill, the arrows were just moving way too fast along the screen for him to keep up with every single one of them.

"I-I don't know." The blonde replied as he grabbed onto the metal bar placed behind the dance pad for support. He looked as if he was going to fall over as he also tried to keep up with the fast pace of the game. "I… I thought I put it on… and easier… setting." The blonde was slowly getting out of breathe. He was not used to moving this quickly and he was determined to stay with the song that he had chosen for at least as long as his best friend could keep up with it. There was no way that he would be outdone by the pale boy.

No more than twenty seconds later, Naruto's shoe lace came untied and the blonde's clumsy feet stepped on the laces, causing him to trip off of the metal pad and sending him hurtling toward the floor(3). The blonde landed on the hard ground with a loud crash flat on his face as his one foot collided with the edge of the Dance Dance Revolution machine.

The blonde's fall caught Sasuke attention and no sooner than the blonde had made contact with the ground did the raven-haired teenager forget completely about their game, which continued on without either of the boys even on the metal mats, and rushed over to his friend's aid.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted in panic, trying to make his voice heard over the loud music still coming from the machine beside them. "Are you okay?!"

Sasuke placed his one hand on the tan boy's shoulder and the other around his waist, trying to help the clumsy blonde out of the awkward position I which he had gotten himself. "Ngh… Not really." Naruto said truthfully as he let himself be helped up by his friend. Once he was back on his feet, he brushed off his shirt, removing the invisible dust that had gathered on it and then let his finger gently rub over his face, testing to see how bruise and sore it was after his terrible fall.

A bright smile graced the blonde's face and Sasuke was glad to see that Naruto had not seriously injured himself. He was not looking forward to explaining to his father or grandfather about how Naruto had been stupid enough to put the DDR machine on a level _way_ too high for him to handle and ended up falling to his doom in the process. He figured Minato would have made it yet another reason why no one should be down in Homestead. He smirked back at the handsome boy and then looked over at the machine that sported a giant "YOU FAIL" across the screen, trying his best not to laugh.

"Let's not play again." Naruto chuckled out as he gave a nervous look toward the screen, which was now asking the next customers to swipe their game cards for another play.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke mocked, which only made Naruto blush at his ditzy moment. He nodded 

once and then could not help but let an embarrassed smile slipped onto his face.

"I'm very sure." He let out a laugh and took a stepped forward, but he was stopped by the raven-haired boy before he could go any farther. "What?" he asked , confused by the other's odd actions.

"…" Sasuke paused for a moment, choosing just to stare at the blonde-haired teenager. The action confused Naruto even further and he began to feel a little self-conscious under the intense glare from his best friend. "Tie your shoes first, moron." Sasuke smiled at the blonde and then let his hand drop from Naruto's shoulder to lay by his side.

Naruto blushed and then let out a loud laugh. His thoughts had started to make him believe that the scene that had just happened was going to go down a completely different path than it had. Just thinking about where the blonde believe the situation was going, made his cheeks lit up with a bright red tint. Quickly, Naruto got down on one knee and tied the lace to his shoe, nice and tight; he made sure this time that the shoelace would not come undo anytime time soon, or else he would be in for yet another embarrassing moment.

--

"YES!" Jiraiya's loud voice boomed over the blasting music, celebrating the high score that he had acquired in a game of Skeeball. Minato stared at his father from his place leaning against a pinball machine, as he watched the older man make a fool out of himself. The way that he carried on about a game, he could have sworn that he the white-haired man was more of a teenager than a grown man.

"Aren't you a little too old to be acting like this?" Minato asked, giving his father a sarcastic smirk.

"Aren't you a little too young to act like a stick in the mud?" Jiraiya retorted back with a playful smile. "Come on. Have a little fun!" Jiraiya said as he lightly threw a ball from the Skeeball game at his son, whom caught it easily.

"I'm not against fun." Minato replied as he began to toss the small ball back and forth from his right to his left hand and then back to his right hand again before tossing it back to the white-haired man in front of him. "I'm against looking like a complete fool in the process." Jiraiya only scoffed as a respond and returned to play another round of Skeeball.

Minato watched on as his father completely forgot about the entire conversation that the two of them had and returned to yelled and carry on when he was able to get the ball into a one of the higher pockets. The blonde-haired man shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest as he began to look at the other games around the large and crowded room. He momentarily wondered here his son and Sasuke had gone as he began to stare off.

His thoughts began to wonder from that subject however as he spotted a couple sitting at the bar in the center of the room. The two of them looked at each other with sly smiles before they leaned into a deep and passionate kiss. Minato scowled at the couple as memories of Kushina and her new lover Iruka Umino were brought back to the surface of the blonde's mind that had intentionally repressed 

all those thoughts. Realizing that he was giving the couple a dirty look, the blonde choose to move his stare to a different area of the large game room as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

With a sudden, Minato was pulled from his thoughts and found his gazed focused on his father, whom was currently tugging on his arm pulling the younger man away from the Skeeball machines and the pinball game that he had been leaning against. He was certain now that he was going to end up yelling his lungs out at his father during this little outing.

"What are you doing?!" Minato shouted loud enough so that he could be heard over the music blaring throughout the entire game room.

"Let's play this game!" Jiraiya said as he stopped pulling his son and pushed him forward toward the game that he had pointed out.

The younger of the two eyed the game and then turned to his father with a questioning look in place on his handsome face. "Is that a motorcycle?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow at the white-haired man.

"Well… a fake one." Jiraiya laughed. "Trust me it'll be fun."

Jiraiya did not wait for his son to give an answer to his proposition and swept both his and his son's game cards into the two virtual motorcycle racing games. The older man quickly hopped onto the fake motorcycle and steadied himself before he revved the fake engine once, almost as if he was taunting the blonde beside him to try and beat him in this game. Minato sighed at his father's childish nature and reluctantly got onto his own fake motorcycle, looking confused as he tried to figure out how you made the motorcycle on the screen go forward.

The game started and Jiraiya's character flew off ahead of his son and most of the other virtual opponents. He laughed as he swiveled the motorcycle back and forth, imitating how a real motorcycle would do if it was taking such sharp turns like the game was doing. The older of the two let out a loud laugh and turned to see how the blonde was doing and his laugh froze in his throat when he saw the blonde still looking around the fake vehicle, wondering how it started.

He muffled back a laugh and tapped his son on the shoulder, startling the younger man to the point where he almost fell off of the motorcycle. Minato steady himself on the machine and tried his best to hide his embarrassment from his father, though he knew that the white-haired man would see through it instantly. "What is it?" he asked quickly.

"Twist the handle forward."

"Huh?"

"Twist the right handlebar forward to start the motorcycle." Jiraiya explained further to his son.

"Oh. Right." Minato faced the screen once again and successfully started up the virtual motorcycle. "I knew that." He muttered the last part and then the two men continue on with their game, now that both players knew how to work the controls.

--

(1) It's a very fun place. It's kind of like a restaurant, a bar, and an arcade all mixed into one.

(2) For those of you unfamiliar with the Pittsburgh area, the Waterfront is a dangerous place these days. Lots of thieves and gangs handing around there. There were two people killed down there not too long ago OO. :pause: Can you blame Minato now?

(3) Raise your hand if you thought that I was going to pull a cliché and have Naruto fall on top of Sasuke XD. I almost did that, but then I was like "No. I'm better than that cliché."

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**Don't worry I won't end the day there. There is still more that I want to happen during this family outing :3 hee. Well, I have my first classes of my college career tomorrow. I'm nervous, but also excited. Wish me luck! And sorry about not being able to update this more often now. Maybe over breaks or if I actually have enough time to write I'll bring it back to every week.**


	14. It's Painful

**My sleep schedule has been so sporadic lately. I'm blaming college. Okay get this. One night I'm asleep at 12:30 am, and the next I'm asleep at 3:40 am, AND THEN the next night I'm asleep at 10:10 pm! **_**10:10 pm**_**!! I felt so disgusted with myself. I haven't been asleep before 12 for almost five years! DX Old sleep schedule come back to me!! The one where I don't sleep until 6 am and wake up at 2 pm!! :sadness:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I do own a Naruto plushie, which I will use as a voodoo doll and lure him to my home and keep him in my closet forever. Until he uses his ninja skills to escape and kill me. No. Naruto wouldn't kill me. ((Would he? OO))**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. I don't know what I've been told :hears echo from a parade of boy scouts:. If you still don't want to read this stuff and did anyway ignoring the warning, then I'll skin you alive :boy scouts stunned silent:. Sound off!! :boy scouts running away as quickly as possible:. ((I'm creepy… yes?))**

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"So what were you guys doing, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked excitedly as the four males sat down in the small booth, surrounded by other people waiting for the food that they ordered from the small restaurant located inside Dave and Busters. Sasuke sat beside the eager blonde, sipping at his Pepsi as he gave a look like he could not have cared less about what the other pair of men had done while he and Naruto were off playing games. The raven fought back a smile as he reminded himself of how Naruto had humiliated himself in his attempts to defeat him in every game that they had played… And failing to do so every time.

"Well, we wouldn't have done anything if it wasn't for me." Jiraiya laughed as he jutted his thumb toward his chest. "Your father didn't want to play anything! He was a regular old stick in the mud." At that, Naruto joined in with the older man as they continued to laugh at Minato's expense.

Said older blonde man sighed and gave his father a disapproving look, hiding his inner anger so that he would not embarrass himself in a public place such as the one in which they were currently sitting. "That's not true."

"It is so and you know it!" Jiraiya chuckled back.

Minato just gave his father a huff in response and once again gave the white-haired man a displeased look. Naruto snickered, trying to hide it by muffling the sound with his hand, and then motioned his head over to the raven-haired boy sitting beside him in the small booth. "Sasuke was the same way." He said, speaking mostly to Jiraiya rather than his own father and Sasuke, who was a little irked that the younger blonde was talking about him when he was no more than a few inches away from him. "I had to suggest all the games."

"And even then I still beat you." Sasuke retorted calmly after he took a sip from his Pepsi. "At least Jiraiya could beat his stick in the mud, while you failed to beat me at even one game."

Naruto grumbled to himself about the raven's most recent statement and hid his chin in his arms as he let his head rest again the cool finished wood of the table in front of him. He looked up at Sasuke, giving the pale boy a glare filled with loathing and humiliation.

It did not take long for Sasuke to take notice of the blonde's intense glare and soon let his dark orbs open slightly so that he could peer at the other boy from the corner of his eyes. He held back an arrogant smirk and continued to sip at his drink slowly, as if he had not noticed Naruto's hate, which seemed to be emanating from his very body.

"Jerk." The younger blonde muttered as he lifted his head from the wooden table. Naruto made sure to avoid the pale boy's gaze and choose to focus on his father and grandfather, whom were sitting directly across from him and whom were trying their hardest not to laugh at the amusing display that he and Sasuke had put on for the two of them. "So… anyway." Naruto continued on, not wanting the attention of everyone to be upon him in his current state. "Did you guys get a lot of tickets?"

"Your grandfather did." Minato said as if he was annoyed with the white-haired man beside him. "He used up most of his game card _and_ most of mine to play ticket games."

A chuckle was heard coming from Jiraiya's lips as soon as Minato had finished speaking. "I told you I'd share them with you." The older man laughed loudly once again and slapped the elder blonde-haired man on the back. Minato cringed again as the forced of the older man's hand collided with his back, making him lean forward and to fall against the wooden table before him. He swore that he was going to have to see a chiropractor by the time the older man's visit was over.

"Keep them." Minato said as he rubbed his shoulder tenderly. "You'll get a bigger kick out of the prizes they have here than I will." Minato gave a small smile to his father and hoped that his son had not noticed the way that he had been treating the white-haired man. Now that Minato really stopped to think about it, he had been humoring his father's whims all day. Whether he had been doing them intentionally or subconsciously was not important, but he just hoped that Naruto would not become suspicious.

After all, he did promise Jiraiya to keep the fact that he was dying a secret the young blonde.

"What are you going to buy, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked ignoring Minato's silent panic. He was very grateful that his son, as much as he loved him, could be so dense at time.

"They had a pretty sweet TV up on display in the prize room." Jiraiya said he gave his grandson a big smirk.

"You couldn't possibly have _that_ many tickets." Naruto argued.

"You don't know that." Jiraiya scowled, but his voice showed that he was simply teasing the younger boy.

"Let me count them then." Naruto insisted as he reached across the table and tried to grab the large bucket of tickets that Jiraiya had set down directly in front of his body on the wooden table. But before 

the blonde could grab the bucket, the older man grabbed it away and held it above his head, while using his other hand to push Naruto away from himself.

"No." he teased, which earned him a frustrated growl from his grandson as he tried to move past his grandfather's large, tan hand in order for him to obtain the bucket of tickets in his other hand, but failed utterly to do just that.

Minato sighed at the childish behavior of his father and of his son and noticed that Sasuke was contently sipping at his drink, ignoring the two loud males beside him. The older man wondered momentarily how the young boy was able to completely block out someone as immature as his son and his father. His train of thought ended when he heard a faint coughing beside him and realized that the waitress had returned with their meals and was waiting for Naruto and Jiraiya to stop leaning over the table so that she could put down the plates in her arms.

"Would you two knock it off." Minato hissed as he snatched the bucket away from his father and set it down at the edge of the table in front of himself.

Naruto and Jiraiya reluctantly stopped their enjoyable fight and sat back down in their seats and looked apologetic at the stunned waitress. Once the initial shock wore off, the stunned waitress finally found her voice and gave a nervous chuckle to the small group. "Uh. So who ordered the BLT and fries?" she asked, her voice quivering slightly with her discomfort.

Minato pointed to his father, too embarrassed to even speak to the young woman. She then went on to placed down three other plates of food in front of each of the men at the table and then quickly ran off to go help another group of people. Minato could sense how happy the young woman was to get away from the rowdy people.

And for a moment, as he looked back at his son and father (whom were beginning to start up their fight once again), he knew exactly how she felt.

--

"What game do you want to play next?" Naruto excitedly asked as soon as he and Sasuke had once again left his father and grandfather, whom were both still sitting at the booth in the dining area of Dave and Busters, more than liking still waiting for the waitress to bring them their check.

Sasuke gave his friend a blank stare at first, but then quietly looked around the room for something that at least caught his attention. "Um…" The flashing lights and loud noise caused by the over extravagant looking games gave the pale boy a slight headache as his eyes scanned the room for something that he would not mind playing. "Do we_ have_ to play something?" Sasuke asked, setting his mouth into a scowl.

"You're no fun." Naruto pouted. Sasuke held back a blush as the blonde pouted out his bottom lip in an adorable fashion.

Though Naruto quickly recovered when something seemed to have caught his attention, and then, before Sasuke could even follow to where the blonde's gaze lead, his arm was violently pulled by 

said boy toward the object that had caught his attention.

"Let's play this one!" Brilliant blue eyes lit up with the intensity of Naruto's enthusiasm as he pointed toward the very same game that had caught his interest moments ago. Sasuke took one look at it, and let out an aggravated groan.

It was a virtual boxing game.

He gave his friend a look as if he was asking Naruto if he was _absolutely_ sure that this was the game that he wanted to play and the tan boy's smile only widened as he awaited an answer from his friend. Looking back at the game, Sasuke mentally sighed in defeat. If it was going to make the blonde stop pestering him to play all of these seemingly stupid games that just did not seem worthwhile to play, than he would gladly play one round of this stupid game(1).

"Tch. Whatever." Naruto howled in joy as he flung his arms into the air. Sasuke was about to make his embarrassment known by letting out yet another sigh, but before he was even able to do so, he noticed that Naruto had already swiped his game card and began to put on the boxing gloves (or what looked like a version of them). The blonde then looked back at his friend and gave a bright and warm smile, as if he was just waiting for Sasuke to admit defeat and join him. Unable to say no to such a face, Sasuke sluggishly walked up to the machine and copied Naruto's previous movements.

"Don't go easy on me." Naruto said, his lips forming a cute pout. Once again, Sasuke fought back the urge to blush and instead gave his friend a small smirk.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Ignoring his friend's mocking tone, the two began their game, and ended it almost as quickly as they had started it.

Sasuke not only did not hold back, but his practically used all of his skills to end the game as quickly as he possibly could. Had the blonde-haired teenager not been so shocked, he would have made a witty comment on how much Sasuke must have hated the game. Though his mind was unable to even think about that as he was still trying to comprehend how the raven had managed to beat him so soon in the game.

Naruto's mouth hung open in shock. He had only managed to hit the raven once… while Sasuke on the other hand had knocked his virtual boxer out cold three times! He continued to stare at the game as the words "Game Over" flashed across the screen. He then turned to give his best friend a cold and unforgiving stare as his blue orbs narrowed grudgingly into thin slits. The glare did not go unnoticed, for Sasuke almost immediately turned to face his friend. Though it was obvious that he was not expecting Naruto to scowl at him, for his dark eyes widened a fraction when he glance upon the blonde's face.

"What?" The raven-haired teenager gave the boy beside him a faux innocent smirk, getting over his surprised state quickly and regaining his mocking tone of voice. "I thought you said don't hold back?"

"I hate you sometimes." Naruto said, though both of them knew that the statement was not to be 

taken seriously. He only glanced at the pale boy from the corner of his eyes, afraid that if he were to face his best friend completely, that the Uchiha would notice the slight tint of red that dusted both of his tan cheeks.

"How about we just do something else beside these games?" Sasuke asked, trying to stop Naruto from his urge to defeat him in a game and ease him away from his anger. He was not in the mood to deal with a stubborn Naruto.

"No! I swear that I will beat you at least _once_ today!" Naruto shouted as he jutted his finger toward Sasuke, causing a few of the surrounding people to stare and wonder what reason he could possibly have for shouting and causing such a ruckus. The confused whispers of the curious people around them were drowned out by the loud music thankfully.

Sasuke grumbled to himself as he let his gaze wander away from his friend. He was just about to try, once again, to convince Naruto to give up his need to beat him in a video game when Minato suddenly appeared behind the two boys, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. Sasuke quickly turned to face the older blonde, who once again had a serious, yet casual look on his face.

"Oh! Dad." Naruto said as he completely forgot about his previous anger and determination and let himself calm down when he saw his father standing right behind him. "What's up?"

"We're going to be leaving soon, Naruto." Minato said casually, glancing between his son and the raven before he saw fit to continue on with his statement. "So finish up and meet me and your grandfather at the entrance in fifteen minutes."

"All right." Naruto mumbled, once again setting his lips into a pout. Sasuke was not sure if the response behind his frustration was because they were leaving or if it was purely because Naruto had yet to beat him at a video game, like he had sworn to do by the end of the day. Either way, the adorable pout put a strain on his will power and the raven struggled to keep the blood from rushing to his cheeks. The pale boy was pulled from his thoughts when Minato's hand left his shoulder and the older blonde walked out of the game room, toward the dining area.

He glanced over at his friend, half expecting him to demand one last game in hopes that he could pull off some sort of miracle and beat him within the next fifteen minutes they had left. But, to the raven's utter surprise, Naruto's mouth was set into a frown while his eyebrow furrowed together, as if he was deep in thought. Sasuke was about to disrupt the blonde's thought process, but Naruto beat him to it and spoke while the Uchiha's mouth was left half open.

"Do you see what I mean?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, confused by the blonde's question.

"I meant, did you notice that my dad is acting different nowadays?" Naruto clarified, keeping his voice just barely over the hum of the music filling the entire building, just in case his father had decided to come back into the game room for one reason or another.

"…" Sasuke let his head turn slightly to catch a glimpse of the dining area, letting his brow scrunch 

together as he thought about how the older man had acted today, and then turned his attention back to his best friend. "I guess you have a point." He said softly, not meeting the blonde's gaze in case the truth would in fact hurt his friend more. He did have to admit, that it was not exactly the kind of behavior that he had come to expect from his best friend's father, but it was close enough to not be entirely worried about it.

Naruto gave a short nod before his blue eyes focused on a colorful, flashing ticket game in front of him and Sasuke. "He's… just not the same fun old Dad I knew. Like as soon as my mom left, he just didn't want to do anything."

Finally understanding what Naruto had meant by Minato acting stranger than usual, he glance once more at the dining area before looking back at his friend, hoping to make him feel slightly better. "Some people take things like this hard." Sasuke said, his dark orbs focused on his best friend's tan face. He could tell that the boy beside him was trying to hide his inner fears and worries. Sasuke sighed to himself. It was a stubborn quality that the blonde-haired boy had mostly like displayed even before Sasuke had first met him back in their middle school days.

"I just… never thought my dad would just close up… without mom."

"Hey. It'll be all right." Sasuke said as he placed his hands on the blonde's shoulders, unable to take the sight the blonde's torn expression and the under tones of depression that were lacing his voice as he spoke.

Slowly, but surely, Naruto picked his head up and his attention away from the flashing lights of the ticket games to give the raven a smile that, had the situation been slightly less morbid and depressing, Sasuke would have blushed at how handsome it make Naruto look. "You really think so?" he asked softly.

"… Yeah." Sasuke said, partially stunned by Naruto's warm eyes and hopefully smile. He mentally scolded himself for thinking, yet again, about Naruto is such a way when he should be trying to console him. Not ogle him.

Another stunning smile graced Naruto's face as he placed his one tan hand on top of his friend's own pale hand, which was still place on his shoulder from when Sasuke had tried to comfort him. "Thanks, Sasuke." Naruto replied softly once again, since he was obviously not ready to use the full volume of his voice. "I can always count on you for things like this."

Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat. He tried to focus his mind on other things, but it was no use. The way the blonde looked at him was almost enough for him to just throw caution into the wind and ravish him where he stood. Thankfully, the Uchiha had better control over himself than that. At he had hoped that he did. It would be quite embarrassing for him if he were to let down his guard and do something that he may regret later.

"You're such a good friend."

With one more thankfully glance at his best friend, Naruto freed himself from Sasuke's grip and went off toward the dining area, so that he could meet up with his father and grandfather. He then noticed 

that the raven was not following him and turned around quickly to question the pale boy's actions.

"Are you coming?" he asked, slightly concerned.

"…Yeah. In a minute." Sasuke said, not looking into the blonde's curious eyes.

"I get it. You secretly like it here." Naruto laughed at his own assumption and let the topic drop at that. "Well, don't be too long. My dad will flip."

With those final parting words, Naruto disappeared off into the dining area, toward the entrance of the large building where Minato and Jiraiya would more than likely be waiting for the two youngest members of the group to arrive so that they could all finally leave.

The Uchiha stood there, slightly aghast, though he knew that he really did not have any reason to be in such a state. He knew how Naruto felt about him and he knew that the two of them could never and would never be anything more than friends. He had convinced himself back at the beginning of the school year that he was fine with that. So why did he feel so hurt and betrayed because Naruto still only thought of him as a friend?

Even as this logic raced through his brain, Sasuke remained silent and still as his dark orbs glared at the carpeted floor, hoping that his anger and self pity could make the flooring burst into flames.

He dared to steal a glance behind in, toward the direction which Naruto had headed and then returned to starting off into the crowds of people and flashing machines. He did not mean to do so, but a scowl appeared on his young face as he fought back the urge to both cry (though he would never admit that he had wanted to cry) and hit something.

"Friend." He said softly, the music in the room practically eliminating his voice altogether. "I guess that's all he'll ever see me as."

Feed up with his moment of weakness, Sasuke slowly left the gaming room, with his stoic mask perfectly in place on his young face, and heading toward the other three men waiting for him at the entrance.

--

(1) I actually like that game that I described. I forgot what it was called, but it was fun :D. And after I played it, my arms hurt_ sooo _badly, that I couldn't move them the day after XP heh, heh.

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**Somebody's emo. I think it's Sasuke :D. Okay. Enough picking on Sasuke ((but it's fun)). So how was that for an exciting day? I wish I had added in more with Jiraiya and Naruto, but I guess there's always time for that later. When Naruto and Sasuke aren't having moments X3.**

**Okay. Review please! I like it when people talk to me!**


	15. It's Unfair

**I haven't been in the best of mood this week. I caught a cold, I had to rewrite my entire English paper and I've had a one-on-one battle with my mini-fridge. And all of it is my roommate's fault. She had a cold this weekend and I had gone home. So for the five minutes I was around her, caught a cold. I hate my immune system. And then she used my computer to print something and exited out of my English paper (which was due the morning after this happened). And she bought the fridge and it's too small to hold really any food in it.**

**I want to live by myself again Dx.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Though I own two posters. One with Itachi and Kisame and one with Iruka and Kakashi. So I guess I own yaoi pairings XD ha, ha. I wish.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. In case of the emergency that you don't want to read this and you are unwilling or unable to hand this responsibility, ask and we will replace you with someone else while you sit with the back button.**

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A car pulled up into the drive and parked, letting out its occupants as they fled into the house quickly, tired from the day's exploits. Minato, Jiraiya and Naruto had just returned from dropping of Sasuke at his own home and were anxious to get inside and relax for the rest of the night.

Once inside, Naruto quickly slipped off his tennis shoes and began to walk over to the stairs, picking up his backpack that lay beside the couch on his way. Before he could even climb one step, Minato stopped him as he entered the living, followed closely by his father.

"Where are you going, Naruto?" the older man asked as he lifted his head up to see his son as he ascended the stairs slowly.

"Homework." He replied back sheepishly. "I… uh. Forgot about it."

Naruto scratched the back of his neck and scurried off to his bedroom, not wanting to her his father scold him about how he should have done that before he had done all those things over the weekend. Minato shook his head and then sat down on the living room and couch, letting out a sigh of relief. He slipped off his shoes and curled and stretched his toes. He had to admit that it felt good to stop walking around, even for a little while.

His thoughts were interrupted when his father plopped himself down on the loveseat across from the couch and let his leg rest along the entire length of the piece of furniture.

"So you're going back home tomorrow." Minato stated rather more than asked.

"Yeah. It was fun to visit you guys. Have to do it more often." Jiraiya said with a side grin gracing his wrinkled face as he lifted his arms behind his head and let his back rest against the back of the 

loveseat.

Minato paused, unsure if he should ask the question that had been plaguing him since this morning and mostly likely since before then, but he was too emotional to sort out his thoughts. He lips jutted out slightly in a pout right before he took in a large sigh and look at his father straight on. "Dad." He finally said.

"Hn?" Jiraiya mumbled as he opened one eye lazily to look over at his son.

"Did… Did you tell mom about you?"

There was nothing but silence. The question had caused Jiraiya to open both of his eyes and made the older man stared at him like he had grown a second head or like his skin had randomly turned purple. Neither of them said anything for at least another minute before Minato became so impatient with his father that he decided that he should repeat himself. Just in case Jiraiya had gone into shock and forgotten the question already.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Jiraiya asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"Tell mom. About you… dying." Minato clarified.

"You of all people should know that I haven't been in touch with Tsunade(1) in years." The white-haired man gave his son a warning glance, hoping that the blonde would realize that he was treading on ground that he should not.

"Come on, dad. Just because you're not with mom anymore doesn't mean you have to avoid her completely." Minato insisted, not wanting the topic to be dropped, like his father no doubtingly wanted.

"She's avoiding me" he retorted in his own defense. "Heading down to Vegas and gambling away all the money she got from our divorce! Ha! I hope she loses everything."

"You don't mean that."

"Yeah I do."

"At least promise me that you'll talk to her when you get home." Minato practically pleaded his father. "I mean, it…" he paused to make sure that he could handle saying more. "It could be the last time you talk to her."

"…" Jiraiya wanted to come back with any witty remark on the evil blonde-haired woman, but when he noticed how upset his only son was, how could he refuse such a simple request. "All right fine. I'll talk to the old hag."

"Thanks." Minato then stood from his spot on the couch and began to walk away from his father, 

satisfied with how the conversation had turned out.

"But I won't like it!" Jiraiya called out to his son as he headed for his bedroom. He heard the blonde laughed at him, which only made him pout like a child (which Minato sometimes thought he was because of the way he acted most of the time).

--

Friday morning, Naruto slumped into his seat in homeroom and let out a bored sigh as he glance out of the corner of his blue eyes over at his best friend. Though he was not exactly sure that the term "best friend" could be used to describe Sasuke lately.

He was not sure what had happened to the pale boy, but whatever it was it had made Sasuke start acting so cold toward him recently. He knew for a fact that neither of them had worked much this week and yet the raven had declined offers to hang out with him and even limited their conversations by giving short and blunt responses. It was like the young Uchiha had reverted back the complete asshole that the blonde had known back in their middle school years.

Giving a slightly glare, he jutted out his bottom lip and choose to just stare at the pale boy as he read a book silent in the desk behind him. Naruto's blue orbs lazily read the title of the book and noticed that he was more than likely reading a book that was required by the raven's AP English class, since he did not recognize it as one of the books he or one of his other friends were forced to read at the time being. Though the book did not hold his attention for long, since the raven's dark eyes flickered to look at Naruto as the blonde-haired teenager stared at him, then promptly ignored him and returned his attention back the print along the book's many pages, which for some reason irritated the tan boy more so.

He was about to say something to the slightly shorter boy when he was practically assaulted by another person jumping onto his back and forcing him to lean onto Sasuke's desk, causing his face to be mere inches from the raven's chest. Naruto quickly craned his neck around to see Kiba perched on his back with a huge grin plastered across his face.

"H-Hey Kiba." Naruto grunted out, trying to get the other boy off of his back.

"Dude! Everything is set for tomorrow!" His voice seemed louder than it actually was to Naruto since the dog-loving boy's mouth was right next to her ear. His mood was turning even fouler do to the splitting head-ache he knew was coming on due to his other friend.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned, his neck aching from the weird angle that he had to put his head and neck in order to look up at the brunette.

"You know, man. You're party!" Kiba replied, an excited grin spanning from ear to ear of his face. "It's gonna be great! I rented out the Pleasant Hills Fire Hall and invited practically everybody in the whole fucking school!"

Sasuke choose to ignore Kiba at point and his dark orbs glanced back over the pages of his book, but not before stealing a quick glance at the blonde (whom was still laying awkwardly on his desk) to see 

a look of pain mixed in with his slight disgust of sharing his birthday party with many _wonderful_ people from Thomas Jefferson High School(2). He quickly hid his involuntary smirk with his book, not wanting either of the other two males to realize that he was actually paying attention to them any longer.

"Saturday can't come any sooner." Kiba crooned lightly pulling his weight back from Naruto's back, making it possible for Naruto to push himself slightly off of his friend's desk with his hand so that now only part of his chest was not lying against said desk. Sasuke had to hide his eyes with his book now since now he had quite a view of the protruding flesh of the blonde's button-up top since Naruto did not button the top two buttons of his shirt. With the blonde boy so much in his personal space it was hard to not over hear the other two boys talking about the blonde's party.

"You mean I don't even have a say in who's invited to my own party?" Naruto whined.

"Hey! If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even be having a party, so deal dude." Kiba narrowed his eyes and pouted slightly at the tan boy's concern over such an insignificant detail. Though the more he thought about it, the more it seemed less and less like an insignificant detail and more like a perfectly logical excuse. But Kiba would not say it allowed. Naruto should be grateful he was even getting a party and worship the ground that the brunette walked on for giving him one.

"I guess." Naruto slumped his body back onto the raven's desk in defeat and let his friend's weight pushed him back down.

"You're still coming too, Sasuke?" Kiba said, looking up at the most concealed face of the pale boy, which also caused Naruto to look up at the other boy present. He hated to admit it, but Kiba's intrusion had made him almost completely forget that Sasuke was even still in homeroom with him.

Sasuke, set his book down beside Naruto's head and gave a small sigh knowing that he would no longer be able to ignore either of the other two males when their attention was wholly focused on him. "If I have to."

"Which you do." Kiba interrupted the raven-haired teen to reinforce the thought into his friend's mind.

"Then I guess I'll be there." He opened his dark orbs once to look down at Naruto's hopeful blue eyes, before he lifted his view to Kiba, who was smiling like the idiot that the Uchiha was convinced he was at times.

"Sweet!" Kiba cheered, wrapping his one arm around Naruto's neck while his other arm was pumped into the air. The blonde clutched at his friend's arm, desperate for air. A soft chuckled accidentally escaped from Sasuke's mouth, but he covered it up quickly with a cough and then brought his book back up to cover most of his pale face. "Oh. Yeah." Kiba said as he heard the warning bell ring through the school. "Gotta get to homeroom. See ya guys tomorrow!"

Naruto thanked whatever being was willing to listen for the gift of air that was now rushing into his lungs after Kiba's arm had left his next and the brunette had run out of the room entirely. He fell back onto Sasuke desk for the third time that day and looked up at the raven, who seemed intent on ignoring him. The blonde pouted and then jutted out his bottom lip once again.

He straightened up in his seat and cleared his throat so that maybe that would be all that he needed to pull the Uchiha away from his book, but Sasuke was still stubbornly keeping his dark eyes focused on the book in his hand. Naruto have never truly wanted to set a book on fire, but he was willingly to do anything once.

"So you're really will still come to the party?" Naruto asked almost hesitantly.

Without removing his eyes from his current page he replied back to the blonde with a simple nod, which was definitely not a good enough response for Naruto. The blonde then quickly grabbed the book out of the raven's grasps, pulling the piece of literature farther away from the raven to the point where it was now behind his back.

Suddenly, Sasuke's dark orbs shifted from his book to angrily glare at his friend in front of him and place his hands on the edge of his desk. Both boys stayed like that glaring at the other, neither willing to back off.

"What the hell, Naruto?" Sasuke said reaching for his book. "What's your problem?!"

"I should be asking you the very same thing." Blue eyes narrowed into thin slits as Naruto tried to match Sasuke's vicious glare.

With a huff of frustration Sasuke turned his head away from the blonde and slumped back into his seat. "I don't know what you're talking about." He grumbled out, still holding his glare with the tan boy from the corner of his eyes.

"My ass you don't." When the raven-haired stayed silent, Naruto began to think that he either refused to reply to him or just could not think of anything else to say, which he knew could not happened since the pale boy always had a comeback up his sleeve. He let out a sigh eventually, not wanting this to escalate into full blown fight, and let his facial features soften slightly. "For the past week you've been acting… I don't know." Naruto paused to find the right word, Sasuke stole a softer glance over at his friend, hearing the obvious concern in his voice.

Naruto did not have to finish his statement for Sasuke to understand what he was trying to say to him. It obvious. The blonde had noticed the change in him. Who could miss it?

The Uchiha had not meant for him to notice. Or maybe he did? He no longer knew. All that was clear to him is that the realization or fear that had been brought to his attention that fateful day at Dave and Busters had consumed his mind and taken control of his every action. He was not about to wish for something that could never happen, and he was tired of getting his hopes up enough as it was.

But this was not fair to Naruto. And he knew it. Sasuke realized that acting cold to his best friend was not the right way to distance himself from the blonde, nor was it fair either one of them. It did not make either of them happy and it only cause their tempers to flare.

"You can tell me anything, Sasuke. You know that, right?" Naruto spoke up finally, his voice barely over a whisper.

The raven was about to reply, but the final bell for homeroom rang and their homeroom teacher ordered them to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem, delaying him from speaking to his friend. Naruto's big blue eyes were lock with his own for the entire time they were forced to stand, hoping that the young Uchiha would somehow be able to stop the music in the background so that he could answer him faster.

The room fell silent and the students were once again allowed to sit back down, Sasuke took one look at Naruto's torn expression and tried to shallow the lump forming in his throat. He took in a deep breath to calm his nerves. How he managed to stop himself from being affected by the blonde for an entire week was beyond him at this point. He gave the blonde the most convincing smile he could muster and softened his face, hoping it would ease the blonde's nerves if he looked as if nothing was wrong with him.

"I'm fine, Naruto." He lied between his teeth, but Sasuke hoped that he was a good enough actor to fool his friend.

The tan boy across from him seemed to be judging Sasuke's face for any flaws that would prove that what he had just told him was a lie, but the Uchiha masked his true emotions perfectly. "You sure?" Naruto asked, reluctant to give the raven another opportunity to lie to him.

"Yes. I've just been a little… stressed this week." Sasuke thought quickly to give the other boy a lie that would be believable. "My father's been hassling me a lot about my grades, so I've been busying studying so that he would get off my back." When Naruto's expression changed from suspicious to concerned, Sasuke knew that he had successfully fooled the blonde, which made his stomach feel as if it was being twisted into knots. He hated lying to his best friend, but the truth would be harder on him than a lie.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Naruto questioned.

"I didn't want to worry you. Besides, it's not like my father's bound to change anytime soon."

"Could lied and said that you were coming over to my house to study." Naruto replied back, trying to prove to pale boy that he had other options than dealing with his strict parents.

"Do you really think _anyone_ would believe that we would be studying when together?" Sasuke chuckled, happy somewhat that things felt like they used to between him and the blonde.

"Oh. What _do_ people think we do together?" Sasuke sighed when he heard Naruto's perverted side of him rise back to life at the worst possible time. It did not help that when the raven-haired teen went to glare at his friend for making a crude joke that Naruto waggled his eyebrows suggestively, which caused Sasuke to blush against his will.

"Very mature. Are you sure you're straight?" Sasuke retorted sarcastically, but looked up at Naruto when the blonde fell silent. Giving his best friend a questioning look when he noticed that Naruto reminded him of a deer caught in headlights. But as quickly as the look found its way onto Naruto face, did it disappear and in its place was the blonde's best attempt at a calmed expression with a 

fake, small smile placed on his lips. "Naruto?" Sasuke asked, concerned lacing his voice.

"Hmm? What is it?" the blonde-haired teenager asked, giving a false innocent look as if he had not been caught when his expression had changed for that one millisecond.

"…" Sasuke debated over whether he should bring the issue back up or if he should just let it go, fearing that the topic would only led them into yet another fight. "N-Nothing."

Naruto shrugged and then continued on with idle chatter about anything that came to mind for the rest of the homeroom period. Sasuke would reply, but his mind was not focused on the topics that Naruto was bringing up. No matter how hard he tried to push the thought from his mind, the split second that Naruto's expression had falter plagued his brain and refused to leave him be. Worse of all, Sasuke could not help but question why it had happened.

He was thankful that the bell rang, causing his thoughts to be pushed back into the farthest corner of his mind before they would get carried away and fill him with uncertain hope.

He did not need that. Not again.

--

(1) Omigawd :O! This is the first story that I even mention Tsunade and Jiraiya in a romantic relationship (present or otherwise noted). I just don't think that they could stand each other for long periods of time.

(2) And they are _wonderful_! … Not XD ha, ha.

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**Oh! Oh! Oh! Next chapter is Naruto's party!! Eww… X3 what on earth could happen there :speaking in a tone that means she totally knows but won't tell you:? But seriously, it should be good.**

**And this might be me ((and my sick fantasies)), but I was so enjoying the tension between Naruto and Sasuke in the second part. I don't know, but I think it has to do with the fact that I think that couples that fight are more passionate in their relationship than ones that don't. Though even I have to admit, when they were making up I was just like "Kiss him already, fool!" XD ha. So please be patient with me. I swear things will just started in a few chapters.**


	16. It's Partying

**Okay let me apologize for this being so late. I've had a hell of a week. Who knew that I'd be this swamped in work in my frist year of college. Certainly not I. But, yeah. My midterms for the semester are coming up so hopefully I'll be back on track for this weekend. I'll say I'm sorry in advanced if I don't have a story ready for you all. I hope you understand XP!!**

**I think that I'm going to try to update this story weekly from now on. I just hope that I'll have enough time to write a chapter each week. Shouldn't be too hard, but if I take a week off, you'll know why. This setup will stay this way until the story is finished, unless I start up another fic, which in that case I might go back to the every other week.**

**Oh well, Enjoy. Peace.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Though if I legally change my name to Kishimoto Masashi… then I just might be able to fight that little battle.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. Because it seems like the manga that I read is getting gayer and gayer and I want my fics to be like that too. ((BTW, I'm current reading Vampire Knight, Gentlemen's Alliance Cross and of course Naruto XD ha, ha. I'm kidding about the last one Kishimoto-sensei XP))**

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Saturday.

Naruto's birthday party.

It had finally come.

For Sasuke it had seemed like Friday had pressed on forever. An eternity that left him to think about how he had treated Naruto all throughout the previous week and to full come to terms with anything and everything that he would encounter at Naruto's party. All that time to think and over think just lead him down the path that would inevitably send him spiraling into a never ending stream of doubts.

He started to dread the event even more so since parties were not really his thing. Socializing in general was not his thing. Leave it to Kiba to put him into a situation that would end up making him so uncomfortable to the point where he wanted to kill the nearest living thing.

He would get back at the brunette after the party was over.

The dress code for the party was casual, but coming in costume to keep up the Halloween theme that Kiba had created somewhat was optional. Meaning that someone could come in some ridiculous costume so that others could either compliment or make fun of for the entire night if they wanted. Sasuke did not want to.

Instead he chose to put on just a pair of loose fitting jeans, a tight fitting navy shirt and a black jacket over it. There was no need to dress over-extravagant. Not when they was going to be tons of people packed into a small dance hall that Kiba had booked (and had asked everyone who was close to Naruto to give him ten dollars to help reserve the place since he was flat out broke) and have good clothes just end up becoming damp with sweat from the horde of bodies.

The more the raven's mind thought about tons of people from his school bumping and grinding against one another to the beat of awful rap music, the more he just wanted to fake being ill. But then again, after he and Naruto had quickly repaired the damage that he had done to their relationship just the morning before, he did not want to disappoint the blonde by not showing up to his party. He would just have to hang in there. And who said he had to be there the entire time? He could sneak out early if he wanted. He was sure that Naruto would be busy socializing with everyone in the small dance hall to notice if he left or not.

Sasuke sighed when he pulled up to the Pleasant Hills Fire Hall and parked his Saturn Ion in a space that was far away from the other cars, just in case someone were to accidentally pull in too close and knick the side of his car with their door. It was perfectly logical to not trust the driving of TJ students. They all showed off their _wonderful_ driving skills everyday when they all tried to squeeze past one another in order to get out of the school's lower parking lot.

Slowly, he made his way out of his car and shuffled toward the entrance to the Fire Hall. As he opened the door his ear drums were bombarded with the overbearing sound of some awful music that sounded more like someone screaming in pain instead of singing. He quickly covered his ears and noticed that there were only a select few people in the dance hall at the moment. He then took out his cell phone and flipped it open to see that he was a good ten minutes early to the party. It must the need of every teenager to be "fashionably late" to parties so that they seem like they always have something better to do with their time.

As soon as he closed the door, a familiar blonde-haired boy ran over to him with a wide grin set on his lips. Sasuke momentarily thought to himself if he could see Naruto this happy during the course of the party than maybe he could put up with the crappy, ear-splitting music and shallow people from their high school for one night.

"Sasuke! You're here!" Naruto chirped up, trying to make his loud voice heard over the blaring music.

"Did you think I wasn't going to come?" Sasuke asked, trying hard to keep his voice even and calm as he also tried to make himself heard.

"Well you're not exactly a party animal." Naruto joked as he motioned for Sasuke to follow him over to the refreshment table were the few other people who had already arrived had gathered around. The raven saw Kiba somehow laughing louder than the awful music and talking with Hinata. Sasuke momentarily felt bad for the poor girl. She already seemed so uncomfortable and out of her element and there was barely even anyone in the dance hall just yet. He could only imagine her once the rest of guest came along. He let a small smile slip on his lips when Ino waved and grinned over at him, to which he waved back in response, and then returned to chatting with Shikamaru, her alleged "just a friend," and Akimichi Chouji, whom she had also grown up with. Sasuke swore that the three of them were so sickeningly close that they had to be attached at the hip sometimes (the the same thing could be argued about him and Naruto).

His gazed drifted off and Sasuke was shocked to see Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee, two old classmates whom had both graduated last year and both gone off the University of California. He was not completely sure, but the raven believed he remembered something about them rooming together. Which made sense, because the two of them, though they seemed to always be fighting, were very close friends. The young Uchiha even thought that if it was not for Lee's obsession with Temari's youngest brother, Gaara, that people would suspect he and Neji would have a more…. _intimate_ relationship.

Sasuke kept mostly to himself as he leaned against the refreshment table, once Naruto's attention was dragged away by more guests flooding into the dance hall. He looked over at the new guest and recognized the shorter of the two males as Naruto's friend from Baldwin High School, Haku. He did not recognize the tough and intimidating looking man beside him, but from the way that Haku hung around him one would think that they were close.

Naruto moved around the dance hall, trying to talk to everyone as more and more people (most of whom Sasuke only slightly recognized stalking around the halls of Thomas Jefferson) entered into the small room. It was not long before the dance hall was closed to being filled with people and the raven felt like he was being packed into the dance hall like a can full of sardines. He immediately sat down at one of the tables that were lined up along the back wall. At least there he could have some breathing room.

A few minutes passed by before his "private" table was invaded by another. Ino sat down in the chair across from him and gave the pale boy a small grin as she slightly panted as if she was trying to get air back into her lungs.

"Hey. What are you doing just sitting here?" she asked as she pushed aside her blonde bangs that clung to her sweat covered forehead.

"Trying not to get mobbed." He answered back, smirking slightly as he motioned his head toward the mass of bodies that seemed to be so packed together that the dancing that was done was more like one body moving against another and causing it to move in the same way. It reminded Sasuke of the Domino Effect actually.

Ino let out a cute, bubbly laugh as he nodded in agreement with Sasuke in his point. "I see what you mean. But it's actually kind of fun out there."

"I don't dance." The raven expression almost changed to a pout, but even with the dim lighting he would not risk letting his stoic façade diminish too much.

"That's a shame. Not even one dance? For me?" Ino leaned forward in her seat, trying to give Sasuke a pleasant smile, though her little fits of laughter broke through her laugh as she tried her best to beg the pale boy.

Sasuke even let out a small chuckle himself at Ino failed attempt at acting. He had to admit, the blonde was much better suited to playing sports that acting. "Maybe later." It was the best that he could promise her and Ino seemed to understand that she could not force Sasuke to dance if he did not want to do it. Though she did seem to give him an expression close to a pout before Chouji called her back over to the dance floor, which left the young Uchiha alone once again.

The music changed to a slow song, which made a lot of the crowd on the dance floor head toward the tables around Sasuke. The raven stared around him and saw that apparently slow songs were code for "let's go over to the more secluded part of the dance hall and suck each other's faces for the remainder of the song."

He groaned in irritation and was glad that the music still drowned out his soft grunts of discomfort. Sasuke then left his table, which he noticed was occupied once again no more than two seconds after he had gotten up from the table, and then made his way over toward the only entrance into the small dance hall.

He was glad that there was a table filled with drinks right next to the entrance, because just being in the room made him feel like the temperature was at least twice what it was outside. He quietly grabbed the closest cup to him and crinkled his nose when he realized that he had picked up Mountain Dew. The green liquid was just too sweet for his taste.

Sasuke attention was then brought over to the door when it creaked opened and revealed yet another familiar person. Temari and her two younger brothers, Kankuro and Gaara, walked into the small dance hall and Temari stopped when she noticed Sasuke out of the corner of her green eyes.

"Well, well, well." Temari said, taking a few steps closer to the raven and placed her hands on her hips as she shifted her weight to her right foot. "Long time no see, Sasuke." As soon as she was done speaking, the blonde's younger siblings' attention was drawn to him as well, though Gaara turned away after giving Sasuke a nod of acknowledgement and walked over to Lee to talk with him. It would figure that the redhead would go straight to Lee's side the moment he walked in the room.

"Well what do you know? It is Sasuke!" Kankuro said as he walked over so that he was now standing to side of Sasuke.

"Temari, Kankuro. Not too busy with college to come and hang around with high school kids?" Sasuke sarcastically asked. He'd never been to close to any of the three siblings. Really the three of them could only be considered Naruto's friends… not his.

"We're never too busy to come and hang out with little Naruto." Kankuro answered as he let out a small laugh.

"We would drop anything for that little guy." Temari also added in her two cents.

"Are you sure you're not here just so that you can harass Shikamaru?" Sasuke questioned, taking another sip from his Mountain Dew and holding back the grimace that was threatening to form on his face.

"Of course not!" Temari answered back, her eyebrows furrowed together and her cheeks slightly redder than normal. "He… He's here?" she asked slowly, not wanting the raven or her brother to realize that she actually wanted to see the younger boy. Sasuke took a mental note that the older woman had probably only _partially_ come because there was that possibility of Shikamaru being there.

The two siblings were about to walk off when Naruto ran up to them and wrap his arms around both of their shoulders, somewhat hugging the necks to his face. "I'm glad you guys made it!" Naruto exclaimed as he released to the two siblings from his grasp and let them turn to face him. "I just talked to Gaara too. But I was hoping that you two would be able to make. You know, with college and all." Naruto scratched the back of his neck and let out short chuckle.

"We wouldn't miss this for anything." Temari said, a smirk set firmly on her glossy lips

"Besides, you caught us at the end of midterm grades, so we don't have much work to do right now." Kankuro added in when he took a step closer to the blonde-haired boy.

"We're you talking with Sasuke?" Naruto asked finally noticing the raven sipping slowly on his cup of Mountain Dew.

"Yeah. He's _thrilled_ to see us." Temari jutted her thumb back at Sasuke, which caused the pale boy to slightly glare at the older woman as her sarcastic remark reached his ears. So what if he was not a people person?

"He's like that with everyone. Aren't you, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, leaning in between Temari and Kankuro so that he could grin at his best friend, whom was trying to ignore the other boy so that his temper would not flare out of control.

"Hn." He huffed and buried his face further into the cup of the disgustingly sweet green fluid.

"Hey, Naruto." Temari said in a somewhat hushed voice. "I brought the stuff that Kiba asked for. Where should I put it?"

Naruto's face became utterly confused at the statement, which made Temari feel a little more awkward and moved closer to the younger blonde so that she could whisper into his ear. "What?!" he screeched no more than two seconds later. "Kiba asked to you to bring be—" The older woman placed her hand over Naruto's loud mouth and hushed him as Kankuro tried to calm the younger boy down as well.

Though it did not take a genius to understand what the dog-loving idiot had made the college student bring. Sasuke was sure it could only be one thing. Alcohol.

"He retarded?!" Naruto tried to keep his voice down, hoping that none of the workers at the Fire Hall would over here them. "If we get caught with that stuff here we could be arrested! And you'll be charged with giving liquor to minors!"

"Chill out." Temari waved off his panic as if he had no reason to be so worked up. "It's all in unmarked bottles."

"And that makes it better?" Naruto questioned, suddenly feeling like his party had gone from great to horrible.

"Oh! Temari's here!" Everyone turned to see the previously mentioned brunette sauntering over to their small group, wearing a huge grin when he saw Kankuro and Temari were now at the party. "Now things will really be fun!"

"I'm going to kill you." The blonde-haired boy glared at the dog-lover, but Kiba ignored his threats and walked over to Temari so that they could talk in hushed voices.

"Bring it to the back and I'll go down the stairs to meet you." Kiba ordered and with a mocking salute the older woman and her brother left out the dance wall entrance to go get the certain substances that Kiba had asked of them.

"Kiba, seriously!! What are you thinking?!" Naruto whined.

"Calm down, dude." The brunette replied, slightly backing away from the angered blonde. "It's fine. Temari didn't bring that much. It's barely enough for one per person."

"Barely?" The blonde seethed.

"Relax, man. I've got this. I've been watching how many cars have pulled into the parking lot outside and I'm not going to be serving anyone who's driving. Trust me. This will be fun."

The blonde gave him once last glare before he finally sighed and gave up his attempt to persuade to brunette into getting rid of the alcohol. "Fine. Whatever."

Personally, Sasuke did not see what the appeal of liquor was. To him, it tasted awful and the only way he would drink it would be if it were mixed with a lot of another substance (and he really meant _a lot_ of it). And the stuff only seemed to make idiots out of sane people and bigger idiots out of the already moronic people. He took another sip from his overly sweet Mountain Dew before Naruto walked over to him so that he was standing to his left and let out a large side as he leaned against the brick wall.

"I'm going to kill him one of these days." Naruto mused mostly to himself, but Sasuke could not help but add in a little remark of his own.

"I'm surprised someone hasn't already." The statement earned him a short chuckle from the blonde beside him. Naruto looked over at his best friend and gave the raven-haired teenager a warm smile for his efforts to help and cheer him up and get his mind off of the idiotic actions of Kiba.

"Thanks, Sasuke. I'm glad that you're here." His eyes blue wandered off to gaze upon the horde of bodies that accumulated in the center of the small dance hall as they moved and spun and shifted together to the beat of the music. "Sorry I haven't been able to pay much attention to you tonight."

"There are lots of people here. I understand." Sasuke took another sip of his Mountain Dew, his gaze avoiding Naruto.

"That's no excuse." The tan boy retorted, bringing his focus back to the slightly shorter boy beside him.

"All right then. I'll hold this against you for the rest of your life."

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelped. "No! Don't do that!" The blonde let out a loud whine as he tugged on Sasuke's black cotton jacket. It took all of the young Uchiha's will to not crack under the pressure and laugh at how foolish the blonde was acting now, but he kept strong and merely looked over at the blonde and gave him a small smirk.

"It was just a joke."

"It was a mean joke." Naruto whined as he stuck his tongue out at the raven-haired boy. The two of them shared a small laughed before the entrance to the small dance hall opened once again and stole away the two boys' attention from each other.

Both of them felt their hearts stop and their breath catch in their throats when they saw how had just walked through the doorway. It was the one person that neither of them had ever expected to see in the near future let alone on this very night, at this very party.

Haruno Sakura.

* * *

**I think my favorite part of this chapter was actually Sasuke observing his other friends. Cause it's kind of like his dwelling into their lives, but only getting a certain gist of the whole thing. I'm weird okay. I also like the alcohol bit XD. And Sakura appears once again on the scene! What does this new development mean for Naruto and Sasuke? Find out!**

**Reviews are loved long time! Fifty yen I stay the night!! XD ha, ha. Sorry. Couldn't resist.**


	17. It's Drunk

**All right I have to say that this chapter was late because of some personal reasons and some selfish reasons. The personal reasons were that there has been some unwanted drama that has snaked its way into my life at the moment. And I couldn't deal with anything remotely dramatic or angsty. And the selfish reasons were that I **_**really**_** wanted play Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney :P. It's a good game. And right now I'm playing as Edgeworth in a court trial against Franziska XD. I love it!! Sorry for the little spoiler there. Pretend you never read anything. :waves hands around like she was trying to hypnotize you all:**

**But this is a long chapter so that makes up for something right? :pause: Right?!**

**Oh! And happy belated birthday to Naruto ((his b-day was on 10/10 BTW))!! Sorry. I wanted to post up a birthday fic this year, but I was just too busy with school and other shit. Forgive me X!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I owned Naruto he would not be running around in orange. He would be running around in **_**rainbow colored**_** clothing!! :big smile:. Heh… I'd make him a flamer XD. ((I would too))**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love, language and alcohol abuse. I don't think this could be any less clear to you all by now. They only way you could not have known about this would be if you couldn't read. And if you couldn't read, that would just raise questions as to why you're on in the first place.**

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke gaped at Sakura as she stood awkwardly in the entrance way of the small dance hall, her green eyes trying desperately to avoid contact with either of the other two boys. And despite the ear-splitting music that filled the entire room, an awkward silence settle amongst the three of them.

Finally the silence was broken Naruto could no longer hold back his curiosity. "S-Sakura?" he asked, taking one step closer to the pink-haired girl.

"Naruto." She said softly, a strained smile falling on her light pink lips. "Sasuke." She nodded her head toward the raven, to which he only scoffed and choose to turn his attention away from the young girl completely. Sakura winced at the cold treatment, but a pitiful smile replaced her frown, almost as if she expected just as much from the youngest Uchiha.

"What… What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Only after the question had left his mouth did he realize that it could be taken as a rude comment, but he could not take it back now. After all, the blonde really did want to know why his ex-girlfriend was standing right in front of him.

"Ki… Kiba invited me." Sakura said. Sasuke searched her voice the best he could for any sign that the pink-haired girl was lying yet again, but, as much as he hated to admit it, he found no track of dishonesty in her tone. "I… I can leave if you want me too." Sakura added in after the long and silent starring directed at her began too much to bear.

"N-No!" Naruto suddenly stuttered out.

Sasuke let his narrowed eyes focus on the blonde beside him. He felt a jab of jealousy run straight through his body, filling him up with rage that was all aimed at the pink-haired girl in the doorway. He honestly just wanted to smack Naruto upside his head. The boy had after all had his heart split asunder(1) by the villainous girl before them and he still did not have the heart to turn her away and make her leave the party when she was obviously not wanted and no one really expected her to make an appearance.

"You're… You're here already, so just stay and enjoy the party." Naruto forced out when the silence among them started to become too uncomfortable.

Sakura's face adorned a warm smile that still looked as if it pained her to see how kind the blonde-haired boy could be, especially toward herself. "Thank you, Naruto."

She then slowly wandered off into the large crowd and disappeared from both of boys' sights, for which Sasuke was somewhat grateful. He was already in a bad mood and Sakura presence just seemed to make everything ten times worse for him. He took another sip of his Mountain Dew, wincing as the yellow-green liquid slid over his tongue and down his throat, before he choose to say anything to Naruto, confident that Sakura was well out of hearing range.

"You're too easy on her." Sasuke's tone did little to mask the bitterness he held toward the pink-haired girl and Naruto was able to pick up on it quite easily.

"I'm just trying to be civil, Sasuke." The blonde shot back at his friend, who would not return his gaze.

"I still think she doesn't deserve your kindness."

"What's your deal with Sakura?"

"She's a lying bitch you played you for a fool!" Sasuke snapped his head back finally so that his dark orbs could meet with the crystal clear blue eyes of the other boy standing no more than a foot away from himself. Had he not been so angry at the moment, Sasuke would have blushed at the closeness.

"She's trying to make up for it!"

"How can you be so stupid as to forgive her?!" The raven had not meant for it to happen, but both his and Naruto's voice began to rise louder and louder until he was sure that everyone in the small dance hall could hear them even with the loud hum of the music in the background. He wanted to calm down and tell the blonde to forget the entire subject, but he was too far gone; lost in his built up rage.

"Because I still love her!"

And that is when the world seemed to slow down for Sasuke.

It was not if it was the first time that he had heard his best friend say that to him for the incident at Chilly's was still fresh in his mind, refusing to leave his mind no matter how hard he willed it to disappear. But this time around… there was no denying the creditability of those words.

Blue eyes shone with nothing but passion and honesty, his rage subsided in his gaze due to the other strong emotions that were welling up inside the blonde-haired boy.

The room felt silent, though Sasuke could still hear the loud music blaring in his ears. The soft clack of footfalls along the hard wooden floor echoed through his head until the raven's attention was pulled away from Naruto's face to a mesh of pink-haired that standing behind him. Her emerald eyes stared in wonder or horror (Sasuke could not tell in such dim lighting with Sakura several feet away from himself) and held her hands to her mouth as if she was worried that something might spur from her lips at any moment if she were to uncovered it.

Naruto quickly noticed Sasuke gaze wandering away from him and turned to see who could have taken his friends' focus away from him during such a time. His breath caught in his throat when he say Sakura standing behind him, her small mouth covered by her pale hands and her green orbs wide in an emotion that the blonde could not place.

Before the tan boy could say anything to the pink-haired girl before him, Sakura immediately rushed toward the only entrance out of the dance hall and exited the small room as quickly as she could. Naruto took a few steps toward the entrance, but halted in his actions.

Sasuke wondered why his friend had stopped at the doorway. He obvious _loved_ her. So why stop when he could have easily caught up to her if he had run. It was not like Sakura was a gold medal winning Olympic Champion at the 100 meter dash or something like that. Maybe the blonde wanted to let the pink-haired girl have some time to think things through on her own. But still… he was curious as to why Naruto did not seem to have any need to further explain himself to his ex-girlfriend.

Suddenly, Naruto removed himself doorway and began to make his way across the room. He passed by Sauske, the raven a little confused as what to say to his best friend at a time like this, kept silent until Naruto had almost completely passed by him.

"Naruto…" Sasuke started, but the words die in his mouth.

The blonde paused for only a split second before he continued toward the only other door in the dance hall and exited through it. The raven let out a sighed and ran his finger through his spiky black locks.

--

"Kiba." Naruto called as he walked down the stairs in the Fire Hall and exited out the back doors where he found Temari, Kankuro and the certain brunette for whom he was searching standing around a few boxes of unmarked bottle containing amber-colored liquid, passing a few out to some of the random guess that had proved that they were not going to be driving home tonight.

"Yeah?" The dog lover looked up from his task of passing out another bottle of beer and let his attention be solely focused on the blonde beside him.

"Give me one of those."

--

"Told ya this would be fun." Kiba launched his arm around Naruto's neck and pulled his friend closer to himself, laughing at nothing particular as he took another swig from his beer bottle.

"Dude, why didn't you ever tell me things spun while you were drunk?" Naruto mused as his blue eyes tried to focus on the parked cars he saw in the parking lot from outside the clear, glass doors that led to the outside of the Fire Hall. The vehicle blurred and doubled in numbers they more he tried to focus his gaze on them, which just made the blonde even more dizzy and so he decided to give up looking at the cars in general.

"Man, Naruto. You are piss ass drunk!" Kiba pointed the index finger on the hand that was not secure around Naruto's neck to point directly at the tan boy's face, his beer bottle held tightly his other three fingers and his thumb.

"No, you are." Naruto shot back. His cheeks held a obvious flush that was a definite give away to his current state and yet Naruto, like many others, will never admit to being intoxicated when they clearly are drunk out of their minds(2). He pointed his finger over at Kiba, mocking his previous action with a slightly more obvious swaying added to it, but then quickly set the hand back down on the ground to keep himself from toppling over into Kiba as the brunette continued to tug the blonde toward him.

Both the boys laughed and almost at the same time placed their own bottle to their lips, allowing a large amount of the amber liquid to slip into their mouths. Naruto shook his head after he swallowed the large gulp of beer. Kiba had told him that he would like the taste more if he was drunk, but the brunette was obviously mistaken since it still tasted like crap. And yet that did not stop Naruto from taking another large swig from his bottle, emptying the last of the contents into his mouth before setting the bottle down in the pile of bottles that him and Kiba had created after the several drinks they had.

"Both of you are drunk as Hell." Temari bent down, her hand placed on her knees as her green eyes switched back and forth from Kiba to Naruto and then back again, as if she was trying to decide which one was drunker.

"Am not." Both of them chanted and pointed accusatory fingers at the blonde-haired woman who only giggled at their actions and stood up so that she could look down at the two drunks.

"Whatever you say, boys." Temari placed her hands on her hips and turned all of her attention over to Naruto. "Hey, blondie. The rest of your guests are going to wonder where you are."

"Let 'em." Naruto slurred.

"Tch. If I let Sasuke see you in such a state he will skin me alive." The older woman seemed to mused that thought more to herself than to the two boys currently sitting on the ground, but Naruto still felt that it was his duty to reply back (since his opinion mattered so much more when he was drunk).

"Heh. Just hide me somewhere he can't find me." Naruto pulled Kiba's arm away from his shoulder and covered his face with the brunette's hand, which was apparently the funniest thing in the world to the dog lover and thus he proceeded to laugh his drunken ass off.

"Great. Stay there. He'll never find you." Temari played along with the two boys before she head over to where her eldest brother was and helped him pass out the few remaining bottles to some more of the guests.

"T'mari!" Naruto whined. "Can I have another one?!" As soon as the blonde asked for another bottle, Kiba chirped up that he deserved to have another beer if Naruto was going to get another one.

"No. I'm cutting you two off. You'll have a Hell of a hangover in the morning as it is."

"Please!" Another whine, emitting from Kiba's mouth, soon followed the blonde's cry. Temari sighed at how foolish the two of them acted while they were under the influence of alcohol. She made a mental note to get them drunk again while she had a video camera on her so that she made me so lucky as to catch them in the act of doing something hilarious. Besides, YouTube could always use more funny videos of people making complete fools of themselves.

Before the older woman could let her thoughts wander further, Kankuro came down the stairs, making sure that he avoided Kiba and Naruto as he walked passed them. "Hey, everybody's practically gone upstairs." He announced, jutting his thumb behind him as he motioned toward the second floor where the dance hall was located. "And they're starting to wonder where Naruto is."

"Should we really let everyone see him like this?" Temari gave the two drunk boys pathetic smile as they seemed to have forgotten about wanting more beer and chose to instead to discuss amongst each other Kankuro's previous statement and mumble about the whereabouts of Naruto.

"Want me to say he's not feeling well?" Kankuro offered after taking his own look at the blonde and brunette, still mumbling to themselves as they continued to ask where Naruto was and halfheartedly looked for him around the room.

"Might be best. Though, won't Sasuke try to take him home if you say that?" The older blonde-haired woman asked with a smirk. "You know how over-protective Sasuke can get when it comes to his little Naruto."

"I'm not little!" Naruto chirped up, over hearing the older woman and momentarily stopping his search for himself so that he could respond.

"You're taking things out of context, Naruto."

"You're context." The blonde-haired boy let out a small, undignified burp that only made Kiba laugh until the point where tears swelled at the corner of his eyes, stopping the dog lover from continuing his search for Naruto too.

"Well, it's either we let Sasuke see them like this or we risk them throwing up if we drive them home. And we took your car here, little brother." Temari reminded her younger sibling.

Kankuro's expression turned from a slightly concerned look, most directed toward Naruto's current situation, to one of pure disgust and fear for the well being of his car. Temari let out a soft snort at the bizarre expression, before her brother sighed and began to ascend the stairs. "I'd rather risk Sasuke getting angry."

"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned, perking up when he heard the raven's name escape from Kankuro's lips as the older boy passed them as he made his way toward the stairs. His expression turned from serious to playful in less than a second and before Temari could worry about Naruto, see saw him yet again placing Kiba's hand in front of his face like he did when he was trying to hide. The older blonde shook her head and then began to pack up the remaining beer bottles in one of the many empty cardboard boxes that littered the ground around her. Before she was finished packaging them away, she heard the door open yet again and saw her brother and Sasuke slowly making their way toward Naruto and Kiba. Temari felt horrible for both the brunette and the blonde sitting on the ground for the Uchiha looked as if he was going to kill the first thing that he could get his hands on. And may very well be either of the two of them.

"Hey look! It's duckbutt head!" Kiba pointed his finger toward Sasuke, just to prove whom he was addressing to the others around him. Naruto burst out into a fit of giggles from behind the brunette's hand upon hearing the nickname that Kiba had given him.

"You two actually let them drink?" Sasuke said to Temari and Kankuro after a long, cold stare toward to the two boys sitting o the ground.

"It's not like either of them were driving home." Temari countered, placing the last two bottles into the cardboard box and closing it up so that she could put it into the trunk of her brother's car.

"This is totally irresponsible." The raven hissed looking back down at the two drunks.

"Just get them home, where they can sleep it off." Temari snapped as she opened up the glass doors and, with her brother at her side, went off toward their vehicle to put the remaining alcohol in the trunk.

Sasuke let out a grunt of irritation once the two siblings were out of range to hear him, momentarily letting his dark eyes glance over at their retreating figures. The pale boy looked down at his two friends, slightly swaying as they sat on the ground as they tried to hide Naruto from the raven's view (and failed miserably at it).

With a sigh he bent down so that he could be at eye level with the other two males in the room. Kiba finally took his back from the blonde sitting beside him so that he could steady himself as he turned his body somewhat to try to focus on Sasuke face. Without Kiba's hand, Naruto gave up trying to hide and just stuck to giving Sasuke a sheepish look as he leaned against the brunette, also trying to focus his vision on the Uchiha before him.

"You two ready to go home? Everyone's practically gone." Sasuke tried to be calm as he spoke to his friends. He knew that yelling at them or calling them irresponsible in their current states would do nothing since they would, most likely, not remember any of his scolding the next morning.

"Carry me, Sasuke." Kiba said as he threw his arms out to lay along the raven's shoulders, his voice carrying an airy tone, which just managed to make Sasuke more irritated rather than get a laugh out of him like the brunette had intended.

"Never. Now get up." The youngest Uchiha then stood up and waited for the brunette and blonde to help each other off of the floor, sighing when they did not seem to have much luck. Reluctantly he held out his hands so that his drunken friends may latch onto him for support.

Once the two of them were securely latched onto Sasuke, one on each of his shoulders, the three of them went around the back of the Pleasant Hills Fire Hall building, just in case any police officers should drive by the and see Kiba and Naruto drunk off their asses. Sasuke let the two males go when they were standing right in front of his Saturn Ion and let the two of them climb into his chair, Naruto stealing shotgun forced the brunette to sprawl himself along the whole back seat. The pale boy was just happy that both of them were able to get into his car without his help.

He pulled out of the parking lot slowly, maybe even a little too over cautious. But when he had two drunken idiots in his car, both of their still rambling with their words slurred beyond recognition, he was taking absolutely no chances and did not want to have any reason for a cop to pull him over.

It did not take him any longer than fifteen minutes to arrive at Kiba's house and help the dog lover sneak into his room without waking his parents, sister or, more importantly, his dog Akamaru. If that giant of a dog had woken up and started barking, then Kiba would have most definitely been caught for sure. Once the brunette was safe in his own room, Sasuke quickly exited the Inuzuka household and returned back to his car to take his other drunken friend home as well.

At least he thought that was what he was going to do.

"Sasuke." Naruto mumbled from his place in the passenger's seat.

The raven acknowledge the blonde by glancing over at him as he buckled himself into his own seat, still not taking any chance of getting pulled over and having the police discover that the drunk blonde sitting next to him was underage.

"Can I stay at your place?"

Sasuke paused. His breathe caught silently in his throat, the raven forgetting momentarily how to breathe, and Sasuke could feel his heart beating faster and faster beneath his ribs. He was not sure why the small phrase spoken by the boy sitting next to him affected him in such a way, but he was sure that his hormones had something to do with it. "Why?" was the only thing that the pale boy was able to force out of his mouth in his current state.

"I don't want my dad seeing me like this." Naruto replied. Sasuke wondered if the alcohol had subsided temporarily and that the blonde was experiencing a short moment of sudden sobriety.

He nodded to the blonde, though in the dim lighting of the car and his current drunken state he wondered if Naruto had even registered that fact. "Sure." He said after a pause, making sure that Naruto knew his answer.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

--

Somehow Sasuke had managed to carry his best friend up two flights of stairs, pass his parents' room and make it to his own bedroom all without making so much as a sound. He thank Naruto's mind for choosing now to finally somber up somewhat, because had he woken up his parents, the blonde may never had made it to see his nineteenth birthday party.

The two boys sat down on the raven's bed, Sasuke removing his own shoes before looking over at the blonde, whom lay lifelessly on his bed, and deciding that he needed help removing his own converses. Slowly, Sasuke pulled himself off of his bed, setting his sneakers beside his bedroom door and then sauntered over to the other side of his mattress.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes glazed over with exhaustion and the remnants of all the liquor that he poured down his throat.

"Just taking off your shoes." Sasuke replied as he knelt down and began to untie the shoe on Naruto's left foot before he pulled it off and then moved on to the next one. He was thankful that his long black bangs hid his face so well, for the raven-haired boy was certain that his cheeks were sporting a bright shade of red at the moment.

"Thanks." Naruto muttered sleepily as he felt his best friend pulled off his right shoe.

Sasuke set the blonde's shoes beside his own before he walked over to the dresser beside his bed and began to pull out some night clothes for himself and for Naruto. He quickly removed his jacket and shirt and pulled the loose night shirt on to cover his bare chest, then stealing a momentarily glance back at the blonde to make sure he was looking away so that he could slip on the pair of bagging flannel pants.

Once he was fully clothed, the raven-haired boy looked down at his friend whom seemed unable to remove his own clothing as the blonde grunted and moaned as he tried to free himself from his t-shirt (which was currently trying to keep itself latched onto Naruto's neck). Sasuke sighed and climbed onto his bed as his pale hands reached out toward the tan boy, helping him remove the piece of clothing from his head.

"Pathetic." Sasuke smirked as the t-shirt finally let go of Naruto's head, leaving his blonde locks messed up from his struggle with the piece of material and his cheeks slightly flushed. Though, the Uchiha was not sure if the flush was from embarrassment, over-exertion or the last remnants of alcohol.

"Shut up." It seemed to be the only thing Naruto could muster at the time being.

"Let me help."

Cautiously, Sasuke pulled the loose fitting night shirt over the blonde's head, his pale finger accidentally ghosting over the slightly protruding muscles of Naruto's stomach as he pulled the end of the shirt down toward his friend's waist. Red dusted his face as he tried to avert his dark eyes away from Naruto or his toned stomach.

The raven paused when he realized that next he would have to help his friend out with changing his pants, which was very dangerous territory. Inhaling deeply, Sasuke looked away as Naruto began to unzip his jeans then struggled to slide the stubborn pants down his thighs. The youngest Uchiha forced himself to look over at Naruto when he heard the other boy grunt in irritation. Once again looking away from the blonde and where his hands were heading and instead choosing to glance down at his bed sheet which now extremely interesting to him, as he helped slide the jeans down to Naruto's ankles.

Sasuke was so very happy that the blonde before him was drunk, otherwise he did not know if he would be able to live with the embarrassment he felt at indirectly ogling his best friend as he helped him change.

Not wanting to prolong his awkwardness, Sasuke quickly removed the jeans and slide the pair of sweat pants over tan legs and let the material in his grip fall when he had reached the blonde's waist again. Sasuke removed his hands from Naruto's personal space as if the action of being close to him had burned him. The pale boy then decided to turn his body almost completely away from his best friend so that he could calm himself down to some degree.

"Sasuke?" Naruto mumbled as he set his head against one of the raven's fluffy pillows.

"Go to bed, Naruto. You're probably about ready to pass out anyway."

"…" There was a slightly pause before Naruto decided to speak up yet again. "Hey, Sasuke."

"Go to sleep, Naruto." Sasuke said as he finally turned himself back so that he could face the annoying boy whom lay beside him.

Naruto then sat up and lazily look over at his friend's irritated and still slightly flushed face before he scooted himself closer. "You're too good to me."

"Naruto, I said—"

And all words die in the raven's mouth as a pair of lips clumsily met his own.

The kiss was a simple one. Lips pressed against lips. Chaste and innocent as if it was a kiss shared between two kids in junior high school whom had just discovered the wonders of hormones.

Blue eyes were shut peacefully as Naruto let himself lean into the kiss as both a way to tried to force some reaction from the raven-haired teenager and to further steady himself so that he would not topple over. But Sasuke's dark orbs seemed to be permanently open as his shock and confusion over took his brain as it tried to reason through his current predicament.

He and Naruto were kissing. _Kissing_! This had to be some sort of dream. Sasuke momentarily wondered if he had consumed some alcohol that night as well and was now experiencing some wonderful dream.

Before his thoughts could progress, the blonde pulled away from his friend's lips and end their kiss then and there.

"G'night, Sasuke." Naruto mumbled before sleep finally overtook him and his body fell lifelessly against the ravens, leaning into his shoulder as his mind drifted off into dreamland.

With the blonde leaning against his body, Sasuke continued to stare forward, not really focusing on anything in particular, but then again unable to pull his dark eyes away from his white wall. The pale boy suddenly took in a deep breath, pulling in oxygen to his neglected lungs and began to breathe in short huffs as the blood rushed to face yet again. He blink for the first time in what felt like an eternity, and yet his dark orbs still refused to solely focus on any one particular point in his bedroom.

Sasuke stayed that way for quite some time, both trying to relaxing his breathing and his rigid body and trying to fully comprehend what had just happened.

--

(1) I put this word in here for a special reader to please her. Leesoca, thank you for the very long review and making me laugh. I haven't laughed that hard in years XD.

(2) … I may have had some personal experience with a similar situation. What? Like none of you indulge in alcohol before you're of legal drinking age.

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**Okay I can let this go without saying something about this chapter. Please, I don't care if you're 21 or 12, if you're going to drink… Please. PLEASE! Don't drive! It is not worth it. A friend of mine lost their little sister to a drunk driver so I ask you all from heart… Just don't drink and drive.**

**Sorry for preaching. I just wanted to have that said.**

**Please review! The keep me going and inspire me to write! So if you ever want to know what will happen next, you know what to do.**


	18. It's Forgotten

**Sorry about the late update, but my whole building has not had internet connection since Saturday! D: It made me cry. Buckets of tears. I couldn't even check my mail!! So please forgive me and my stupid dorm room for having crapping internet connections XP.**

**I also was thinking about my last chapter… You know, cause of the kiss that Naruto initiated I was thinking maybe I should have changed the warning to "Boy Love" instead of "**_**One-sided**_** Boy Love." I don't know. Would that be giving people too much hope? I don't want to yank anyone's chain. I just kind of feel like… I didn't warn people correctly. Argh! Stupid alcohol making things difficult :yells into the sky:!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, it probably wouldn't have gone on for so long. I really don't have the attention span to create a series that long. And it end in hot NaruSasu sex :D.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. Because I don't feel good and I want it in here. And I should get what I want when I feel bad. Because I'm spoiled o 3 o.**

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The night had been a restless one for Sasuke.

It may have been because during the night, Naruto had chosen to toss and turn and to somewhat smother him at times in his sleep. Or it could have been the fact that almost as soon as the raven had dragged himself and Naruto in his bedroom, his parents woke up and began their daily regime as they prepared themselves to depart to their jobs, creating quite a good amount of noise for an hour and half as the scurried around the house.

But the most likely reason would problem be that right before Naruto had passed out and drifted off into a deep sleep he had initiated a short and chaste kiss between himself and the raven.

Thinking about it, Sasuke was sure it was definitely the last one.

He had officially given up any hopes of sleep when he had turned to the alarm clock sitting on his night stand read that it was eight in the morning. Instead, Sasuke simple pulled himself away from the blonde that had some managed to tangle himself up in both the bed covers and around the left side of Sasuke's body and removed himself from his bed and hurried off to his upstairs bathroom.

The first thing that the young Uchiha did was turn the sink faucet on, cold water running down and slide down into the drain, and splash the cool liquid on his face in an attempt to both make sure he was not going to randomly passed out and to calm down his stupid hormones. Sasuke had just put through the most awkward sleepover ever in his life and he felt like his cheeks might be forever stained red. Upon looking at his reflection in the mirror, he learned that his face had returned to the creamy, pale peach color that it normally held.

Finished with the water, Sasuke turned the faucet off and let his eyes focus on the last few drop of liquid that fell from the valve and slowly travelled down the marble dome of the sink. He pulled the navy hand towel off the hanging rack and let the soft material rub against his face as the raven-haired boy dried on his moist skin.

As he continued to dry off his face, he looked at his reflection in the mirror yet again. Under his eyes were large, dark bags most likely gained from his lack of sleep the previous night. A trickle of remaining water ran down his cheek and curved along the contours of his face to drip down his chin. As Sasuke's dark eyes followed the small drop of water run down his face, his gaze landed on his lips and memories of last night came rushing back into the young boy's mind.

_Blue eyes were shut peacefully as Naruto let himself lean into the kiss as both a way to try to force some reaction from the raven-haired teenager and to further steady himself so that he would not topple over._

Sasuke shook his head as if he were trying to physically force the thoughts from his brain as he felt his face start to heat up and blood rush toward another part of his anatomy. He placed his pale hands along the edge of the sink and gazed down into the smooth, white surface of the marble. A low grunt made its way out of his mouth before he bit down on lip, as he tried to keep his mind focused on other things besides what he and his hormones wanted to do to the blonde sleeping in his bedroom.

He sighed as his dark orbs once again found their way to the mirror. After last night, he knew that things were only going to become more and more strenuous on himself if he continued to hide his feelings from his best friend. The raven knew he would have to act soon, or he would not be able to contain himself.

But he could not do that.

No. He could never confront the blonde.

The kiss, after all, had to be some sort of fluke made by the tan boy in his drunken and daze state. That had to be it. There was no way that the blonde-haired teenager could have any such feelings for Sasuke. Such an idea was preposterous. Naruto had obviously mistaken the Uchiha for someone else and kissed him because of his error.

"_Sasuke? … Hey, Sasuke."_

Naruto words only moments before their short kiss echoed through his head. Sasuke groaned and ran his pale fingers through his long, raven bangs, his gaze moving away from his reflection to once again focus on the white dome of the sink. A sigh escaped his lips as the memory of last night started to invade his mind yet again. Sasuke cursed the memories under his breath for their persistence as he removed his fingers from the edge of the marble sink, the digits slightly aching from his strong hold on the smooth surface, and exited out of the bathroom.

Sasuke walked back into his bedroom, but instantly wanted to turn around and never enter into the room ever again when he saw that the blonde laying in his bed had started to stir and wake from his deep sleep.

Just perfect. The sole object of his focus for all of most of last night and all of his restless morning was waking up, forcing Sasuke to finally face his fears about the kiss that Naruto had initiated. He walked over to his dresser, not making eye contact with the blue-eyed boy as said boy groggily sat up in his best friend's bed and tried to focus his half-lidded orbs on his surroundings.

The Uchiha pulled out clothes for himself, when he heard his friend moan and mumble under his breath about something hurting him. He immediately came up with the conclusion that the blonde-haired teenager was suffering from a hang over, and, based on the sounds coming from the tan boy, it was a bad one.

"Ngh…" Naruto groaned as he held his head in his hands as his fingers wormed their way through his unruly blonde locks.

"Serves you right for pouring all that alcohol down your throat." Sasuke said in his usual stoic voice as he turned to face the other male.

Upon hearing his friend's voice, the blonde's eyes shot up to try and focus on Sasuke (which took some time). "Sasuke?" Naruto's voice almost seemed as if it was asking if the person standing before him was truly his best friend or if he had heard the voice incorrectly.

"No, it's Santa Claus visiting early." Sasuke's tone reeked of sarcasm as a small smirk started to tug at the corner of his thin lips when he realized how awful his friend truly looked. He hoped that however much pain his friend was currently experiencing right now would teach to never indulge himself in consumption of such large quantities of alcohol ever again.

"What am I doing here?" Naruto groaned out as he rubbed the remaining sleep from his blue eyes, yawning and stretching as he did so.

"…" The Uchiha paused almost as if he was making sure that Naruto would not suddenly remember for himself the reason as to why he was waking up in the raven's bedroom and then ultimately remembering other interesting events that happened the previous night. When the blonde simple stared at his friend, waiting for an answer to his question, Sasuke said somewhat grateful and at the same time upset at the fact that Naruto did not remember their kiss. "… You got drunk last night at your birthday party." He finally managed to say as he lowered his gaze away from Naruto's half-lidded orbs. "Don't you remember?"

Naruto either had chosen to ignore the raven-haired boy's soft and uneasy tone or he was still too dazed to register anything around him, but, no matter what the reason, the blonde proceeded to try and recall the memories of the previous night. "I remember the party and then… Sakura showed up." He paused, but Sasuke did not look to his friend to see if he was upset over the memory of Sakura or if he had simply paused to think. "And then… everything gets blurry. Did I spend the night at your place?"

"… Yeah." Sasuke answered completely turning his body away from the blonde. "You asked to stay here so that your dad wouldn't see you in the state you were in last night."

"Ugh… At least I was sober enough to realize that." Naruto chuckled slightly, but went back to holding his aching head and a low groan escaped from his lips as he lowered his torso toward his knees.

"… Yeah. Funny how that happened." Sasuke paused to allow himself to steal a quick glance at the blonde-haired boy currently moaning in pain on his bed before he returned his attention to the clothes that he still held in his hands.

Sasuke's lips pursed together as he tried to reason through Naruto's logic. If the blonde was sober enough to realize that his father would flip on him, if he was able to think so rationally while supposedly under the influence of alcohol, why would he not have still been just as rational if not more so when he kissed him last night. It did not sit well with the Uchiha and he finally set the articles of clothing in his hands down on his dresser and turned to face the other boy once more.

"Naruto… are you sure you don't remember last night?" He asked reluctantly, eventually forcing the words out of his mouth.

"… No. Why? Did something happen last night?"

The slightly older boy stared at his friend for a moment as if he was trying to determine if the blonde still sitting on his bed was lying to him or if he spoke the truth. The raven eventually turned away, almost as if he was afraid to find any hint that the tan boy was in fact lying to him and stared down at his clothes, which still sat on his dresser. "No. Nothing happened last night. I was just curious."

Quickly, the raven picked up the clothing that he had picked out for himself to wear and quickly exited his bedroom as he heading straight for the bathroom, almost as if it were an escape for the unbearable atmosphere that hung about his room. He quickly closed the bathroom door and let his body slip down the large piece of wood and he emitted a sigh of both frustration and relief.

His hand gripped onto his tightly onto the material covering his chest for it felt like a sharp pain has suddenly made its way through his torso. A pain that grew worse as his thoughts continued to focus on the blonde and everything that had transpired between the two of them in the past couple of hours.

Sasuke let his dark eyes closed for a moment or two, hoping that they action would calm him down and ease the sharp pain in his chest and then slowly opened his eyes. That is when he realized that he was in a pitch black room and had come into the bathroom without even turning on the light switch before he let himself fall down upon the tiled floor(1). The youngest Uchiha ran his pale hand up along the wall behind him until his long finger stumbled over the switch, flicking in on in the process and letting light illuminate the small room. As soon as the lights had come on, the raven-haired boy let his arm drop back down so that it was now resting on his lap along with his other arm and stared forward at the wall and out the tiny window that was positioned almost at the very top of the wall.

"Tch." Sasuke huffed out as his dark eyes were torn away from the window and choose to focus on his lap, while his pale hand ran its fingers through his raven locks.

He did not move for some time, his mind too occupied with thoughts of a certain unfair blonde to even register the fact he was still sitting on the bathroom floor.

---------------------------------------------------

"Do I know how to throw a party or what?" Kiba asked as he leaned down so that he was eye level with the other people around him.

"I have to hand it to you, Kiba," Ino said as she twirled a piece of her long, pale blonde hair around her finger, for once not escaping to the sanctity of the TJTV room and sitting with Naruto and Sasuke in their homeroom. "It was really fun."

"But of course." Kiba waved his hand above his head as he gave a small bow, feigning gratitude, which only managed to earn him a scowl from the blonde-haired girl in front of him. "Hey, Naruto. How smashed were we that night?! That was so much fun."

"I bet. Wish I remembered more of it." The tan boy gave a nervous chuckle to which Sasuke peered over at him momentarily and then focused his attention back on the dog lover as he spoke up.

"Too bad. You do the stupidest shit when you're drunk." Kiba laughed out and slapped Naruto on his shoulder. Blue eyes widened as soon as Kiba finished speaking and the blonde-haired boy turned his head completely so that he could look at the brunette's face. The sudden silence from the tan boy and the panic that rushed across his face peaked Sasuke's interest once again, as he momentarily wondered why his friend was so shocked (or was it frightened?) over what Kiba had said.

"Wha… What did I do?" he stuttered out.

"Oh man." Kiba laughed out loud once again. "You tried to hide from Sasuke by holding my hand up to your face. It was hilarious." Both Sasuke and Ino noticed the small sigh that escaped the blonde boy's lips as soon as he heard what Kiba had thought was so hilarious and stupid. The two of them then look over at the other. Ino's pale blue orbs gazed into the dark pools that were Sasuke's eyes, as if she was silently asking him to explain the reason behind Naruto's odd actions. The pale boy merely shrugged and turned his gaze away from the girl in front of him as he looked at Kiba from the corners of his eyes.

"Did I?" Naruto asked with a laugh. "Well, I do have made Hide-And-Seek skills." Both the brunette and the blonde boy laughed at the remark, while Sasuke continued to stay silent, trying desperate for his mind to not think too deeply about his best friend's actions and the reasons behind them.

But Ino was not ready to let it go. She was willing to get to the bottom of it all.

No matter what.

---------------------------------------------------

When the bell rang to let out homeroom, Naruto quickly said goodbye to his two friends and hurried off to his first class of the day. Before Sasuke to run off as well, Ino grabbed his wrist and pulled his aside and away from the line of traffic that was heading toward the door that lead out into the crowded hallways of Thomas Jefferson High School.

"What's up with Naruto?" Ino bluntly asked.

"It's nothing." Sasuke said as he tried to brush passed the blonde-haired girl and head off to his class, but once again Ino grabbed onto his wrist and stopped the pale boy from moving any farther away from her.

"It's not _nothing_." Ino corrected the raven as he refused to make eyes contact with her pale blue orbs as she stared intensely at the back of his head.

"Just drop it."

"Did something happen between you two after the party?" Sasuke sometimes wished that his female friend was not as perceptive sometimes.

"No."

"Tell me the truth, Sasuke." Ino almost snapped at the raven in her frustration. "Why did he look so shocked when Kiba was talking about them being drunk? He must have done something to make him that paranoid."

"…" There was another silent that settle between the two friends. The blonde refused to weaken her glare and the raven still refused to meet her gaze, like he was certain that if he were to look into those intense blue orbs that they would see through his very soul and know every thought that raced through his mind at the time. Soon the silence became unbearable and Ino had to speak up once again. She momentarily hoped that neither of them would late to their first period classes, but that thought was pushed aside almost as quickly as it came.

"Well?" She said expectantly as she tried to persuade the boy in front of her to talk.

"… He kissed me."

Sasuke then quickly pulled his wrist free from the blonde's grasp and quickly walked down the hall, never looking back at the girl that he had just walked away from to see her reaction or any emotion that may have crossed her pretty face. He could not bring himself to look at her.

After all, she still liked Naruto a lot. And Sasuke could not bear it if he had been the cause of any tears to come forth from Ino.

So he just continued on his way down the hallway, pushing his way throw the hordes of people and keeping his gaze on the ugly tiled floor beneath his feet. He felt so pitiful running away like this, but it was all he could from not snapping himself. Sasuke made a mental note to apologize to the blonde-haired girl when he was in a much more stable frame of mind.

Said girl stared wide-eyed out at the retreating figure of the raven-haired boy in shock of the sudden and unexpected news that he had relayed to her. Her lips quivered slightly as if she was trying to form words to console herself, but she then quickly recomposed herself and ran down the hallway, fearing that she might be late to her first period class.

There were too many thoughts racing through her mind to possibly rationalize any of them at the current time. The blonde-haired girl simple continued on her way to her class, hoping that whatever lesson was in store her would distract her mind off the subject of Naruto and the kiss he shared with Sasuke. Though, she knew that the thought would fester in the back on her mind, no matter how distracted she could make herself.

But it was better than nothing and it would have to do.

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(1) Ever done that before? I have. I felt so retarded when I asked myself "Why can't I see?" XD.

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**Heh, heh XD. It's always one step forward and two steps back with these two. Oh well, they just have to keep trying to move forward. :pauses: Okay, I'm sorry!! I know you guys probably just want me to get on with the story and have Naruto and Sasuke smex!! I'm sorry I keep on delaying it!!**

**Don't hurt me. I'm fragile D:**


	19. It's Unspoken

**Sorry this took so long to be put up. I've been swamped with projects lately and I didn't have the time to write. And thus… late :gloom:. I'm really bad at updating, aren't I?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Um… I'm not really in the mood to be funny. Sorry.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. Yeah… same excuse as above.**

**Important: Last thing. I want to dedicate this chapter to the late Robert Shreffler. He was a good man, a good husband, a good father and a good grandfather. Your memory will live on forever in my heart. Because if one year without you has not weaken your memory, nothing will. ... I love you grandpa. Always will. **

* * *

Naruto was thankful that the school day was finally over. Sasuke and Ino seemed oddly tense around him after he had left homeroom that morning. The blonde wondered momentarily if something had happened between his two friends after he left the room as quickly as he possibly could.

He did not have the guts to bring up the topic the raven himself as the stoic boy drove both of them toward Naruto's home to drop him off. The blonde drummed his fingers along the dashboard as his blue eyes gazed out the window as the scenery flashed due to the vehicle's current speed. Not a word was spoken between the two of them until the raven-haired teenager pulled into Naruto's drive and unlocked the tan boy's door manually, letting him out so that he may enter into his home.

"See you tomorrow, Sasuke." Naruto called out before he closed the car's passenger door. "Are you working tomorrow?"

"Hn. Yeah." Sasuke said, not making eye contact with his friend.

"Me too. Give me a ride then, like always?"

"Yeah."

Naruto frown at the lack of response from his best friend. Right when he thought that everything had been patched up between them, Sasuke had to revert back to his grumpy, nonresponsive self and create tension between the two of them. Though, Naruto could not completely put all the blame on Sasuke.

The blonde stopped his thought process and tried his best to fake his usually grin as he said his goodbyes to the pale boy in the driver's seat and then closed the passenger side door, before he walked over to his garage door. He kept his attention on the touch pad that lay on the brick wall, punching in the code to open up the large door in front of him. He figured that he would try to make amends between him and Sasuke tomorrow, when neither he nor the raven could avoid each other's presence. Though he was not sure how he was going to accomplish such a thing.

He walked into his garage, quickly pressing the button to close the door he just opened and walked into his house. Naruto quickly kicked off his shoes and let his messenger bag fall not so gently to the ground as he walked into the living room, just wanting to relax on the couch and watch TV. But his plans were immediately forgotten when he saw a familiar woman sitting beside his familiar on the couch upon which he had wanted to crash.

His grandmother.

"Granny Tsunade?" the blonde questioned as he walked up to the side of the couch and stared at the two other blondes whom sat beside one another. Tsunade turned her body around to face the new voice that had interrupted her conversation with her son, only to find her grandson standing beside the couch with a confused expression on his young face. A grin tugged at the corner of her lips, though it did not reach her honey eyes. Naruto noticed a hidden sadness that the older woman was trying very hard to hide, most likely for his own sake.

"Oh, Naruto." Tsunade said as she set down the mug in her hand. The younger boy noticed that it was filled with a dark colored liquid, probably tea of some sort. He found it odd that the older woman was actually drinking another substance beside alcohol, for he knew both Tsunade and Jiraiya could be very heavy drinkers. "How was your day?" she asked casually. The fake calm tone to her voice made Naruto furrow his brow, obviously concern with how the older woman had yet to call him a brat and had taken it upon herself to act as if nothing was wrong… when something obviously was bothering her and his father by the looks of it.

"What's wrong?" he asked taking a step closer to the pair on the couch.

"It's… uh." Minato started, seemingly having just been pulled from his own thoughts when his son stepped closer to both him and the blonde woman beside him.

"It's your grandfather." Tsunade finished for him.

"W-What? Pervy Sage? What's wrong with him? Did he get into some sort of trouble?" Both adults seemed to have ignored the stream of questions that Naruto had thrown at them and choose to just continue on with what they were saying before the blonde-haired boy interrupted.

"He's in the hospital." Minato said, his voice slightly cracked, making his son believe that there was something else that the older man knew, but had refused to let him in on it.

"It's his own fault." Tsunade snapped out as she clenched her hands as they lay along her lap. "Being in the condition he was in and going about like nothing was wrong. What was that man thinking?"

"His condition?" Naruto questioned, looking to his grandmother as if he were asking her to fill him in on the situation, only to have her ignore his questioning tone and focused solely on finishing her ramble.

"Minato, for God's sake why didn't you make him go to the hospital when he told you?! Who knows how much time he's got left now?!" The older woman lifted herself off of the couch and began to pace around the entirety of the living room, sometimes seemingly mumbling to herself while other times shouted out something as if she were talking to some else entirely than the two other blonde males in the room with her.

"Mom, just calm down and—" Minato tried to say as he also got off of the comfortable couch and walked slowly over to his mother, but she cut him off before he could say anymore.

"He can die any day now!!" Tsunade cried out near hysterics.

Naruto's big, blue eyes widened. He felt his breath catch in his throat, subconsciously holding in a breath as he wished that he could have not heard his grandmother say those awful words. He slowly let his gaze drift away from the two adults in the room as they continued to yell at one another (though that was mostly due to Tsunade in her panicked state) and let his body drop down on the couch that his father and grandmother had previously occupied.

Jiraiya. His grandfather, whom he had just seen and spent time with a week ago… was in the hospital and could possibly_ die_. Naruto covered his mouth, suddenly really slightly nauseated by the mere thought of one of the closest people in his life dying.

His frantic blue eyes peered down at the material of the couch, trying to focus on anything that would distract him from the news he had just heard from his grandmother. But his attention was stolen away from the fascinating couch material to the two other adults in the room when he heard the older woman scream out louder than she had been previously.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T TELL NARUTO?!" the woman yelled as tears welded up in her angry honey-colored eyes. "His own grandfather is seriously ill and you didn't tell him?! What on earth possessed you to do that, Minato?!"

"Dad asked me not to." The blonde-haired man replied back, trying to be the calm one of the two adults.

"And that makes it right?" Tsunade glared at her son with her elegant hands clenched at her sides and shaking slightly with her building rage. "He deserves to know! He's eighteen, Minato. He's not a child anymore and Jiraiya can't protect him forever."

"I know, mom. I was…" Minato paused to sneak a glance over toward his surprisingly silent son and saw that he was staring straight at the older man, as if he was waiting for his father to tell him that this whole thing was some sort of sick joke. "… I was going to tell you, Naruto. I really was." The blonde-haired man began to walk back over toward the couch and took a seat beside his son. "I just wanted to wait for a good time to tell you."

The world seemed to have slowed down or completely have come to a stop for Naruto. He felt his stomach twist and turn unpleasantly as he tried to accept the news that that coursing through his mind. He needed some place that did not seem as… crowded as his living felt at the current moment.

Without fully registering what his father and grandmother had been saying to him, the young boy stood from the couch, making sure his legs would support his weight before he continued moving, and, as quickly as he possible could, exited out of his living room and then out of his home completely. He only realized that his body had removed him from his home when he heard the echoed sound of the slam of his front door bouncing off the door frame and swinging open slightly from the force that Naruto used to shut it. The blonde vaguely heard the calls of his father and grandmother as he continued to walk further and further away from his home, but eventually they stopped.

By the time he realized that his family members were no longer calling after him, he had walked all the way from his home to the small park known as "Pleasant Kingdom" to the locals of the area. Naruto let out a long breath that he had not realized that he was holding in and set himself down on one of the open swings.

The park was empty, most likely because the weather had become much colder in the past few days, like it always did right before Halloween rolled around. Realizing how cold it actually was out, the blonde silently wished that he had grabbed a jacket before he blindly left his house. But in the state of mind that Naruto had been in when he left his father and grandmother behind, he just found himself lucky that he was able to make it all the way here without injuring himself. His tan hands grabbed the cold metal chain links tightly, wincing at the icy feeling of the cold metal against his warm palms, and let his mind finally focus on his previous thoughts now that he had found a less stuffy place to think.

He was worried. Hell, worried was an understatement. His grandfather was in the hospital and he had not even known that the older man was sick in the first place. Naruto let his blue eyes narrow as he continued to think. His own family had kept in him the dark this entire time about his own grandfather's illness. How the white-haired man could die any day now and he would be none the wiser.

But now that he had finally been told that Jiraiya was dying… he almost wished that he had never been told.

His grandfather was dying, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that he could do to stop it from happening. The whole thing made him feel so completely helpless. Made him feel more like a child than he had felt in many, many years.

Naruto pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and brought up his contacts list to dial up a familiar number; the number of the certain someone who had seen him through the worst of times and helped him pull through. Sasuke.

But before the blonde hit the call button, he paused. He and Sasuke had subconsciously seemed to avoid talking with one another a lot today and Naruto knew that his reasons were because he was very concerned about the conversation that Kiba had brought up in homeroom, but he had not completely understood why Sasuke had shut himself away, reverting to his usual stoic self. Naruto was not sure if now would be the best time to call on Sasuke for help or if the raven would even listen to him in his grumpy mood.

Finally, Naruto shook his head, as if repelling all the negative and doubtful thoughts from his mind and leaving in their wake nothing but determination. He pushed the call button and placed the phone to his ear.

---------------------------------------------------

"Naruto, why did you ask me to come here?" Sasuke asked as he finally made his way down to Pleasant Kingdom, via his Saturn Ion, and walked over to his blonde friend, whom had not moved an inch from his spot on the swing, which he had been sitting every since he walked down to the park. "And then why did you hang up on me before I could ask you about anything?"

"Sorry, but I really needed you." Naruto's voice was soft and low, barely audible to anyone around him.

Sasuke blushed at the tan boy's choice of words and choose to turn his face away from the blonde and he replied. "… For what?"

"My grandfather is dying."

There was a silent, but it was mostly due to the fact that the pale boy had been shocked by his best friend's sudden declaration that he was left speechless and Naruto seemed as if he simply refused to say anything else on the matter.

Sasuke turned his face back to look down on his friend's face that seemed to be entirely focused on the rubber covered ground that had been most likely put in to make the park a safer place for small children to play. The Uchiha had come figuring that Naruto was going to yell at him for being an unemotional bastard or something along those lines, only to be confronted with that fact that the closest person to the blonde in his family… was _dying_.

"Dying?" Sasuke repeated, unable to form a proper sentence at the time.

"I ran out of the house before I could get the full details, but apparently he was sick when he came up to visit the other weekend." Naruto said, almost automatically to Sasuke question. It was if he was trying to state the details of the situation as if he had no emotionally attachment to the subject whatsoever, though that was far from the truth.

"…" Sasuke slowly made his way toward the empty swing beside the one that Naruto was currently occupying and sat himself down, keeping his hand tucked away in his pockets so that he did not expose his pale appendages to the cold breeze. "Wow… He didn't seem like he was sick."

"They weren't going to tell me, Sasuke." Naruto's blue eyes looked over, as if seeking some form of comfort in the raven's face as he did so. "My own father knew about it and he didn't tell me. My own grandfather specifically told him to keep me in the dark!" He could not help the rage started to build up in the pit of his stomach as he continued to explain everything to his friend. His grip of the metal chains grew tighter, though by now his tan hands were already partially numb. "What the fuck did they think they were doing when they decided not to tell me?!"

"Maybe they thought it they were protecting you…" Sasuke tried to off the blonde, but his tone did not carry a very convincing tone.

"_From what_, Sasuke?!" the other boy spat back, tears welding up in the corners of his big, blue eyes. "From what?!"

"… I don't know, Naruto." He replied back honestly.

A soft sigh escaped from the blonde's pink lips. Sasuke noticed that the blonde shivered slightly as if he just realized how cold it actually was outside and how he was ill-properly dressed for the chilly weather. The raven shrugged out of his jacket that he had grabbed in his haste to meet up with his friend and threw the warm coat at the blonde's head gently.

Naruto's blue eyes widened in surprise as he removed the jacket from his face to stare back and forth between the piece of clothing that Sasuke had thrown at him and to the raven himself, as if questioning the raven if he was serious. "You're gonna freeze to death, idiot."

"I couldn't—" Naruto reluctantly protested but was cut off by the pale boy sitting beside him.

"Just wear it." And with those words, the blonde slowly pulled the warm jacket over his frozen limbs, snuggling into the warmth of the coat once the piece of clothing was securely pulled around his torso. As the Uchiha let his dark eyes roam over to the blonde-haired boy beside him, he could not help but notice the small grin that tugged at the corner of Naruto's lips as he pulled the jacket tightly around his chest. "Honestly, you can be so retarded at times." Sasuke let out a short chuckle and heard a small laugh emitted from his friend in response.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

"For the jacket? I'm not letting you keep it, moron. I just don't want you to freeze your stupid ass off while we're out here."

"No." Naruto paused to let his warm, blue orbs look over to meet with Sasuke's gaze. The look still held sullen hint to them, but the honest and genuine gratitude shone through the most in the tan boy's face. "For just being there whenever I need you. Like now. Even though you were pissed at me, you still came down here when I asked you to." Sasuke had to avert his eyes so that his friend would catch the subtle hint of red that settled along his pale cheeks.

"Hey, I wasn't pissed at you this morning." Sasuke said when he suddenly realized what Naruto had said instead of just focusing on the heart-melting expression that he wore on his handsome face. The raven whipped his head around, the previous blush that dusted his cheeks almost completely gone by now.

"Then why were you acting so cold during school?" Naruto asked, honestly confused by his friend's actions.

"…" His cheeks became red yet again. Sasuke truly hated it when Naruto would question him about particular subjects that he would much rather just forget about entirely instead of constantly having to be reminded about them. "I was just in… a bad mood." Sasuke replied back, unable to think up a better lie to give to his best friend. "Tch. You really know how to kill moments."

"But you brought it up." When Sasuke's blush suddenly turned a deeper shade of red and he turned his face away as his lips settled into a small pout, Naruto could not help but laugh at his friend's embarrassment. After all, it was not every day that he was able to catch Sasuke with flawed logic.

The two of them, once the blonde's laughter died down, settled into a comfortable silent that was only disturbed by the soft creaking sounds of the metallic chains as the two boys slightly rocked back and forth on their individual swings. Sasuke would let his dark eyes peek glances over at his best friend every now and again. He noticed that the blonde had dawn on a sort of expression that made him seem like he was thinking especially hard about a particular topic, but would not allow his thoughts to be heard by anyone outside of his own head.

"… Halloween is going to really suck this year, huh?" Naruto finally broke through the silent between them and let his head turn slightly toward the raven-haired teenager beside him, as if he was making sure that Sasuke knew that he was speaking to him.

Sasuke gave his friend a sympathetic look and let the smallest of smiles play at his lips when he returned the gaze. Slowly he lifted his hand out of his pocket and let his pale appendage travel cautiously through the air until his hand stopped when it made contact with the blonde's shoulder. The raven tightened his grip on the jacket that had only moment ago sat upon his own body and hoped that the small form of contact would be enough comfort for his friend.

He was honestly surprised when he felt still slightly cold fingers intertwine themselves with his own pale hand, pulling the pale appendage closer to his chest. The small gesture made the small smile on Sasuke's lips widen slightly and eased his gaze into an almost gentle expression. He squeezed back on the hand that pulled his own closer, enjoying the contact even though he knew that Naruto took the action as a form of kindness and comfort, obvious to any other intention that might linger in his friend's mind. Sasuke immediately felt guilt when he realized how much enjoyment he was taking out of the sentimental moment between the two of them and quickly let his hand relax more in Naruto's grasp.

"We should get back now." Sasuke said, turning toward the blonde beside him once more, his voice low and cautious since he was unsure if his friend was ready or willing to go back to his home. "After all, _I_ have to get ready for work."

The other male beside him let out a silent laugh and then turned his attention to the raven. "Okay."

With that, Naruto released his grip on his best friend's pale, which Sasuke reluctantly took back and immediately place the appendage back into his pocket to shield his expose flesh from the cold breeze. The both of the rose from their places on the ancient swings that creaked with every subtle movement they made and headed toward the raven's car.

Maybe things had not turned out exactly as Sasuke had hoped after Naruto had accidentally kissed him that one night. Maybe things were far from what he had always hoped for them to be. Even if all of that was true, he realized that no matter what kind of relationship the two of them shared, he would drop anything that he was doing and go to the blonde side, hoping to cheer him up even in the slightly bit.

Sasuke flattered slightly in his footsteps as a sudden realization had come over him. He quickly covered up his little trip and continued walking over to his beautiful blue car that sat waiting for him in the small parking lot next to the equally small park.

Could the feelings that he had been harboring for his best friend taken a turn down a different path than before? Sasuke may not have been a relationship expert, but he knew that even those feeling meant so much more than simple _liking_ someone.

He quickly shook his head free of the thoughts before they could continue down that dangerous road. He was definitely not ready to admit to himself that he may need his blonde friend more than even he could have imagined. The raven sighed when he realized that hiding away those types of feelings from his very best friend was going to be more difficult that it had ever been.

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**Umm… Okay. That's it for me this week. Sorry. I'm... just really not in the mood to talk that much. Again, sorry. Please review! **


	20. It's Halloween

**I'm sorry for the later update! My internet connection was acting up again and I hadn't been on since Saturday! I'm sorry. I'll post up a one shot tonight as well. I've had that thing done, waiting for the right time to post it up. And it's the perfect thing to say "please don't spear me for having yet **_**another**_** late update :smile:."**

**Heh. I find it funny that I'm writing about Halloween so long after it's already happened. That's what I get for trying to keep up with the stupid timeline I have set for this story XD. Right now, I hoping to have Christmas around it's time. But important things happen during that time so I might have trouble fitting in everything I want to fit in by that time.**

**And I liked to thank all the wonderful people who reviewed last chapter and gave me support. I truly thank you for it. It really did cheer me up! Thank you again! It's nice to know that you care! Love you all :hearts:!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I own Naruto then it would take place in a small island someplace along the equator… where it is almost absolutely necessary to have the guys of Naruto walk around half naked XD.**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. Give me an F! Give me a U! Give me a CK and a YOU! What does it spell? The same exact thing that I'll tell you if you read my story and flame it all because you ignore the warning.**

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"Are we still going trick-or-treating?" Kiba asked as he approached the group of people as they stood by their lockers, putting away their books and removing their jackets to shield from the chilly October weather.

"Last I checked Shikamaru and Chouji were still up for it." Ino said with a slap from her ugly green locker as her pale blue eyes looked over at the dog lover. "Though no matter how hard I tired I couldn't get the lazy bum to dress up. Said it was too troublesome or some shit like that." The blonde-haired girl grumbled as she slipped into her rip-up purple hoodie with an annoyed expression on her face that was directed at the aforementioned lazy boy.

"What about you guys?" Kiba asked, finally turning his attention toward Naruto and Sasuke as they continued to shoved books and binders into their lockers.

"Whatever. I said I'd go, so I'll go." Sasuke said, his dark eyes glancing over to his blonde companion as he remained silent for the time being.

The other three teenagers stared at Naruto expectantly, though the tan boy seemed to either be ignoring their stares or was truly obviously to them. Once he pulled out his black and orange jacket, he closed his own locker door and slowly turned around to face the others around him. With a large grin in place he finally gave them an answer. "Of course! I wouldn't miss this for the world! Nothing better than free candy."

His reactions were obviously forced, but Sasuke said nothing and kept quiet as his closed his own locker and turned so that he could lean his body up against the cool metallic door, his expression cool and calm though he was secretly worried over the well being of the blonde boy beside him.

"Great!" Kiba laughed as he readjusted his backpack on his shoulder. "I wanted Hinata to come, but she had plans." The brunette's expression turned to a look of pure agony, but when his friends did not seem to care about his suffering the dog lover pulled himself back together before he spoke again. "Anyway, I took the liberty to ask my sister about the houses that gave out the best stuff. She said that there is a street about ten minutes away from the high school filled with rich snobs that leave candy on their porches and trust kids to only take one!"

"How'd she find out about it?" Naruto asked, seemingly to hold genuine curiosity about the subject.

"Her best friend used to live there and still goes back every year for Halloween(1)."

"Are we going to walk all the way there?" Ino asked as her face contorted into a sort of look of disgust.

"Well, I don't see you with a car."Kiba replied back, crossing his arms over his chest as the blonde-haired girl began to make his plan sound like a bad idea. "So I guess that means yes."

"I live on the edge of Pleasant Hills, dumbass. It takes me like a half hour to get to the high school. It'll probably take me another hour just to get to this mystery street of yours." Ino placed her hands on her slim hips as if she was accepting Kiba's challenge to a battle of finding flaws in his _brilliant_ plan.

"Ino, you play soccer." Kiba retorted. "Why are you so against a little physical activity."

"It's not the physical part, it's the time part. Trick-or-treating is starting at four p.m. this year."

"She's got a point. We wouldn't have much time in between getting home, getting ready and then walking all the way to the street." Sasuke added in a casual tone. Kiba stared back and forth from the raven-haired boy back to the young girl whom was currently tapping her foot lightly, as if waiting to hear an apology or for the dog lover to admit he was wrong. He sighed in defeat, which made a small smirk appear on the blonde girl's face. "How about I drive us down there." Sasuke eventually said when the other three fell silent in their attempts to solve the problem at hand.

"Really?" Kiba asked, picking his head back up.

"That's so sweet of you, Sasuke." Ino chirped as she clasped her hands together.

"Okay. If that was the only problem, then I'll see you guys later." With that, the brunette ran off from the other three, waving his arm wildly in the air to his friends as he left. When Kiba excused himself, Ino soon followed suit and left the two boys alone once again.

"Thanks for taking us there, Sasuke." Naruto finally said as soon as he and Sasuke had moved away from their lockers and proceeded to go to the raven's chair and return to their homes.

"It's no problem." Sasuke answered back, his voice calm and even. But to the tan boy he almost seemed as if he was keeping himself in check so that at least one of them would feel calm and composed. "Oh. But I don't know where Shikamaru and Chouji live."

"Well, I know that Shikamaru has a car and a license so I could always ask him when I get home if he would mind driving him and Chouji to Kiba's house." Naruto said after a short pause to think of possible options since he did not know where Chouji and Shikamaru lived either. He only knew that they lived next door to each other and have ever since they were in diapers.

"Okay."

The walk to the car was a silent one, but only Naruto seemed to feel awkward during the short pause in conversation. Sasuke glanced over at his fidgety friend for a moment, noticing the way that Naruto seemed like he wanted to talk about something, but refused to let the words fall from his lips, before his gaze returned back to directly in front of him. The Uchiha would not force the matter of his friend. For he knew when Naruto was ready to talk about it, nothing would keep him from blurting it out of that big mouth of his.

When the two of them reached the blue Saturn Ion, the quietly entered into the car and, slowly but surely, managed to get out the horribly crowded lower level parking lot. It was once they were on the road that Naruto managed to finally force words out.

"So what are you going to dress up as?" he asked quickly, as if he had wanted to say something else, but then quickly decided to go with the next thing that came to his mind.

"I don't know. Do I really have to?"

"Yes!" Naruto replied back almost immediately, shocking the raven somewhat at how insistent the blonde was about dressing up.

"Uh… a vampire?" he said reluctantly as he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"That's uncreative." Naruto pouted. Sasuke's brow twitched with his irritation. The blonde had wanted him to go as something and he had given him that, only for Naruto to complain about it.

"Oh yeah? Then what are you going as?" the Uchiha retorted back, hoping to get the blonde at his own game.

"Speed Racer(2)!" Naruto shouted.

"…" And Sasuke could find no reply to that answer.

"What? What's wrong with Speed Racer?" The blonde asked, leaning closer to his friend as his big, blue eyes narrowed accusingly at his friend, whom tried to ignore his friend and focus on the road.

"Nothing. But why Speed Racer of all things?"

"Basically cause of the movie coming out next summer. Costume for it are everywhere."

"… Sometimes I wonder why I hang out with you." The raven sighed and pulled onto the blonde street, ignoring the protests and shouts that spewed from his friend's mouth until Naruto finally removed himself from the vehicle.

---------------------------------------------------

"Man, look at all that candy!" Kiba yelled out as he poured out the contents of his candy bag, his eyes wide with excitement. He, Naruto and Sasuke were currently sitting in brunette's basement after a few great hours of running from door to door and then changing out of their costumes so that they could be more comfortable. The three of them sat in a sort of makeshift circle and started to go through all the treats and goodies that they had acquired from their few hours of trick-or-treating.

When the small group had been done with Kiba's wonderful street, trick-or-treating was practically over and so Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji had all decided to go back to Shikamaru's house and spend Halloween night together like they always had ever since they meet. The other three boys did not want to get in the way of their tradition and decided that they should spend the night at someone house, staying up late, eating tons of candy and waking up in the morning regretting everything.

"What a way to spend our last Halloween here!" Kiba said as he once any searched through his candy bag, pushing past the chips and drinks as he tried to search for something chocolate to snack on.

"Oh yeah. This will be the last year we can spend Halloween together." Naruto said, his voice holding back the sudden sadness that feel upon him. "With college and everything."

"That's not true." Sasuke said as his dark eyes stared at a bite sized Three Musketeer's bar and grimacing at the small piece of candy. He had never had much of a sweet tooth, so most of the stuff that he had picked up that night would end up in either Kiba's or Naruto's stomach.

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked, pulling himself away from the sugary treats.

"Well, next year Halloween is on a Friday. If we really wanted to we could come back home that weekend after classes and spend Halloween with each other." Sasuke placed the candy down in the large pile that lie at his feet and let his gaze move from the piece of chocolate to peer at the other two boys in the room.

"Sasuke, right." Kiba said with a wide grin. "We just have to make a little effort, but we can still see each other."

"Then let's do it!" Naruto chirped as he let his hands support most of his weight as the blonde leaned his torso forward to get closer to his two friends. "Let's promise to come home next year and spend Halloween with each other!"

"I'm in!" Kiba bellowed back as he also leaned in closer to the blonde; an excited expression in place on his young features. "Sasuke?"

Both the blonde-haired boy and the brunette turned their attention away from one another to stare at the suddenly silent boy sitting in front of them. Their eyes were wide in hope and expectation, as the two of them willed their friend to also promise to spend next year's Halloween with them. Sasuke let out a sigh before a small smile tugged at the corner of his thin lips. "I guess one weekend with you guys wouldn't kill me." He replied as he let his dark orbs wander away from their enthusiastic faces.

"You spend all week with us, dude." Kiba replied gently smacking the raven's arm as he spoke. "If you aren't dead by now, then nothing we could do would kill you."

"But he was a vampire tonight, so that means that he already died." Naruto added in as he let out a short chuckle at his own joke.

"Technically, I'm undead."Sasuke explained, but then turned his face toward the laughing blonde and gave a smirk. "And I'll blame Naruto's _wonderful_ costume for killing me." Sasuke pointed his pale finger at the blonde, which reminded everyone of the Speed Racer costume he had been wearing during their little outing.

"You looked so gay in that, Naruto." Kiba snickered as he tried to hold back his own fits of laughter. "Especially that ascot." Another snicker escaped past the brunette's lips as he put both of his hands over his mouth to stop the laughs from spilling out, which only made Naruto's rage and embarrassment increase. Sasuke smirked once again and let out a short and almost completely silence laugh that was ignored by the other two males.

"Shut up. At least I was more creative than you two!" Naruto countered with his own smirk. "I mean, a vampire and a dog? My Speed Racer costume was so much better."

"I was a werewolf." Kiba corrected the blonde, his laughter finally dying in his throat, which let his hand fall from their place over his mouth and let him set them down at his sides.

"Even more original." The blonde mocked.

"At least I wasn't wearing skin tight white pants." Kiba said under his breath, though his efforts to hide his statement failed since both Naruto and Sasuke were able to over hear his little comment.

Naruto cheeks light up with an intense shade of red and Sasuke had to turn his head away from the two bickering boys. Kiba's comeback had reminded the raven about the pair of tight white pants that Naruto had been sporting all night. He had to admit that it was quite difficult to keep from staring at his blonde friend's nice ass as the pair of pants hugged every contour to his lower half. Quite difficult. The memory of Naruto walking and Sasuke accidentally falling behind both him and Kiba made his own pale cheeks obtain a slightly pink tint to them.

As Naruto and Kiba continued on with their little fight, Sasuke picked up a small bag of SweeTarts and popped a small blue disk into his mouth, daring to try some of the candy that he had received. His face immediately grimaced at the strange sweet and bitter taste to the piece of candy, but decided to grin and bear the awful taste in his mouth until the candy disk finally dissolved.

"Sasuke, you liked my costume! Right?" Naruto shouted over at the pale boy, almost making him choke on the small piece of candy that was still in his mouth. He recovered quickly and then let his dark eyes landed on Naruto's determined face and then over to Kiba's irritated expression.

"Uh… Sure." Sasuke reluctantly answered as he put the small bag of SweeTarts back in the giant pile of candy at his feet.

"That doesn't count as an opinion!" Kiba yelled at the blonde. "I bet he doesn't even know what you asked him."

"But he answered so that counts!" Naruto countered back. "That's two against one! My costume was better!"

Sasuke ran his pale fingers through his hair and let out an exasperated sigh, feeling the start of a migraine worming its way into his head. He hoped that the other two boys would end their argument soon, otherwise he would have to forcefully stop their yelling. And he really did not want to add to the shouting. It was bad enough as it was.

"Why they hell are you all _yelling_?!" Kiba's older sister voice rang loudly through the entire room as she stood at the base of the stairs that lead down into the large basement. "Some of the people in this house actually _need_ to sleep!" A slam of the door told the three boys that the older Inuzuka had thrown the door shut with all the strength she could muster in her tired state. After a moment of cautious silence, Kiba threw his friends an apologetic expression.

"Sorry about that." Kiba practically whispered when he felt that it was final safe to speak again without incurring the wrath of his older sister.

"It's okay." Naruto said with a nervous smile on his face. It would seem he too was afraid that the older of the two siblings would come back and yelled just as much as Kiba was.

"We should get some sleep too." Sasuke said in his usual tone, not caring if the older Inuzuka child heard him or not.

"Yeah. Whatever." Kiba said as pulled out a few extra blankets and pillows from the closet in the corner of the large basement. "Still wish you guys were up for the whole 'hooky' thing tomorrow." The brunette grumbled to himself as he handed the two other males the blankets and pillows and then pushed his candy pile against the wall behind him with his feet so that he would not lay on any of it. Both Naruto and Sasuke followed his example and began to put their candy back into their bags and set them against the wall, next to the dog lover's pile.

Once all the sugary treats were safely placed against the wall and no longer in danger of being smashed during the night, the three boys lay down in a similar position to the one they were in previously as they curled into the warmth of their blankets. Kiba turned the lights off before he settled into his own makeshift bedding, stumbling over an unknown object in the darkness before he reached his desired spot.

"Good night you guys." Kiba said with a wide smile in place, slowly letting his exhaustion seep in and letting his heavy eyes close.

"Good night." Naruto replied back, which was followed almost immediately after by a muffled moan, which was most likely Sasuke's way of saying good night.

The room fell silent; the only sounds disturbing the calm of the large basement was the rhythmic sound of the three males breathing. The soft repetitive sounds became almost deafening to Naruto as he lay on his back so he could stare up at the dark ceiling all the while letting his eyes slowly adjust to the lack of light in the room. The blonde let his gaze travel downward from the ceiling to stare at the shapes he knew to be his friends, which lay on either side of him.

In the silence of the room, he found it hard for his thoughts to not wander back to the very same ones that had been swirling around in his head ever since Monday. As he thought of his grandfather, he accidentally let a sigh slip past his lips as he rolled over on his side and let his blue eyes close for just a second. When he opened them once again, his already adjusted eyes noticed a pair of dark orbs staring back at him. He almost gasp, but stopped himself before he accidentally woke up Kiba or another member of the Inuzuka family.

"Can't sleep?" Sasuke voice whispered. The blonde was just barely able to make out the raven's thin lips moving along with his words.

"Yeah." He replied back, keeping in mind to talk softer than he normally did.

"… Don't worry." Sasuke said letting his dark eyes close once again and snuggled deeper into the warm blanket that engulfed his body.

Naruto smiled at his best friend. He often liked how Sasuke was able to tell certain thing about him and his thoughts without him even having to say a single word. The blonde took a moment to wonder just how long the pale boy had known that he was worrying over his grandfather's condition. Then again, he figured that Sasuke had been suspecting something like this to happen ever since he confessed about his grandfather dying.

The smile on his lips disappeared when that thought came back to him. His shook his head slightly to disperse that line of thinking and then let it settle back down on the comfortable pillow he was given. He forced a small smile on his lips, just in case Sasuke's eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room, just like his own eyes had, and let his eyelids slowly close shut. Another sigh fell from his mouth, but it did not carry the same sadness and concern that his first sigh had. He open one blue eye, just to take one last look at his best friend's face as the raven-haired boy tried to fall into the depth of peaceful sleep.

"Thanks, Sasuke." He whispered, before joining the other two boys in dreamland.

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(1) I can tell you right now that this place really does exist. :pause: Cause I used to live there. :creepy voice: But even though the street held great promises of great candy and king sized candy bars, be warned! It was a place of great evil!! :lightening heard in background:

(2) I wanted to go as Speed Racer last year because of all the hype about the movie coming out last summer… but then I got said cause my friend told me that I would make a better monkey ((the one in trunk of car)). So… I didn't go as him. Or the monkey O:!!

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**I sure said Speed Racer a lot in this chapter. Can I get sued for that O_O? :pause: Umm. I don't own Speed Racer/Mach GoGoGo. That is property of Yoshida Tatsuo. There. Can't sue me now :D! Ha HA! … I was imitating the laugh-esque thing Speed Racer characters do at the end of their sentences in the dubbed American version if you did not know. And if you didn't, shame on you. Cause that is a classic rip on the dialogue!**


	21. It's Visiting

**You know. It's sad. I've given up on finding new stories to read on . And it's not cause there isn't good stuff out there. It's mainly because… I can't choose what pairing I want to read about!! D: Sad, isn't it? Well, I'm totally up for suggestions. Oneshots, multi-chapters… I don't care. I'd read anything that my readers think is good. After all, they read my stories XD ha, ha. I kid! And if you have a suggestion but are unsure if I like the pairing, just check my profile. They're all up there.**

**Okay so if you celebrate Thanksgiving, have fun stuffing your face full of good food. And if you don't, go out and buy yourself some turkey or chicken anyway. And if anyone asks you why, just say "Kodoku na Oujo told me so!" XD ha, ha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the pairings I like wouldn't be just subtext and crack… They'd be REAL!! :O**

**Warning: One-sided Boy Love and language. I don't think people bother with these anymore. Maybe I should throw in something weird and disturbing to throw you all off! So… There's also going to be cannibal pandas!!! :trying to imitate Yamato's scary face and voice, but fails **_**epically**_**:**

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"Ready to go, Naruto?" Minato called out to his son from the base of the stairs that lead to the second level of the Uzumaki household. The older man stood beside the railing with a large red and white suitcase sitting beside him while his one hand idly thrummed against the hard plastic casing.

"Yeah! Coming!" the younger blonde shouted back down to his father as he zipped up his own black suitcase, a bright orange tag hung from the zipper that sported his name written in black sharpie. Once his bag was all zipped up, Naruto propped the suitcase up and began to wheel it out of his room and toward the staircase. He picked up the bag, letting out a soft groan from the heavy weight, and carried it down the stairs only to set it down on the ground once he reached the last step.

He stared up at his father expectantly, and Minato gave his son the best smile he could muster up. "Okay, let's get these bags into the car."

It was Friday afternoon, and the two blondes were getting ready to take a small road trip all the way to Lancaster so that they could check up on the oldest male in the Uzumaki family. The trip was both something that Naruto had been looking forward to ever since his father suggested it in the beginning of the week and something that he dreaded. He was afraid of seeing his strong and stubborn grandfather hooked up to all kinds of machines, looking like a shell of his former self. He did not want to imagine that someone who was always so strong could possibly end up like that. It was so truly frightening.

Listening to his grandmother and what she had seen when she visited her ex-husband had scared him even more. Tsunade had deliberately left out some details and he could tell, but she had also told both Naruto and Minato how Jiraiya's small trip away from the hospital really pulled a number on his body, which was slowly giving out on him.

Naruto lifted up his suitcase when his father opened up the trunk of his car and it down as gently as he could, considering how much it weighed. After he dropped it in the trunk and walked around to the passenger side of the car, he momentarily thought that he should work out more, since having trouble carrying a suitcase was just pathetic.

He was pulled from his thoughts as his father opened and closed the car door and started up the older car. The older man pulled on his seatbelt and Naruto took it as a sign to do the same. Ever since Naruto was younger his father had always told him to put on his seatbelt, but eventually gave up telling him and just expected him to do so. The younger of the two did not feel like having an argument with his father just before they headed out on the four hour trip to Lancaster. It would just make the road trip that much longer and more tense than it needed to be.

Though it did not matter, for the two males were not in the car fifteen minutes before Naruto leaned his head against the cool glass of the car window and let sleep claim him.

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Naruto scrunched his nose in displeasure as he walked into the large building. The entire place had that all too familiar scent of bad food mixed in with the smell of inevitable decay and death. The blonde hated to enter such place with that horrid smell that hung heavily in the air around the entire vicinity. He wondered how the nurses and doctors could handle working hours upon hours in a place that just gave you such a huge feeling of guilt and pity for its patients.

Or maybe Naruto was being more than a little biased on that thought, considering not every person within the wall of the large hospital was currently dying.

Minato led the younger male toward the room number that they had been giving by a nice receptionist, whom had seemed quite flustered when Naruto's father had approached her. The blush on the woman's face had been priceless to the younger blonde and Naruto could not help but wonder if his father had even notice how taken the younger woman was with him(1).

The two of them boarded the elevator and stood in silence until the doors opened to reveal the fourth floor of the hospital. Minato stepped out first, walking slowly and taking time to stare at each plate that lay next to each door so that he would be sure to not skip over the room with Jiraiya inside. It was not until the two of them had made it all the way to end of the hall that they had even found the room.

"4328." Minato read off softly to himself, Naruto just barely to hear his voice as he walked a few steps behind his father. They paused in front of the door, both of them finally realizing hope scared they were to see the older man in his current condition. Tsunade's description of the older man was quite a shock to the other men in the Uzumaki family, but there was no avoiding this.

As Minato brought his fist up to knock gently as the wooden door, Naruto felt a wave of nausea hit him with such great force that he literally had to cover his mouth to insure that nothing would accidentally be regurgitated. It was almost as if everything was suddenly hitting him. His grandfather, the strong and great Jiraiya, was just behind that door, more than likely lying down on a horribly uncomfortable hospital mattress and looking as if he had been through Hell and back. The mental image that formed in the young boy's mind was almost too much for him to bear. He fought the urge to run when he saw his grandmother open up the wooden door and give both him and his father a small smile.

The older woman let them both in with a whispered greeting to them. Naruto did not know nor want to know if it was because Jiraiya was sleeping or if he was in such bad shape that his grandmother had found it hard to speak of anything in a happier tone.

"I'll be glad that you're here." Tsunade said as she closed the door behind the two males. "I think he's tired of me hovering over him."

"Of course I'm tired of it!" Naruto heard his grandfather's voice bellow out. His blue eyes widened when he realized that the voice sounded just as it had the last time he had seen the older man. A slight ray of hope sparked within him and sudden he found the strength to walk forward to finally take a look at his grandfather. "Especially since you started throwing the fact that you're my 'wife' around! I'd like to see what the staff would say if they found out that there was an 'ex' to go along with that."

"If you tell them that I'm your ex, then I'll throw my degrees at them and tell them that I'm also your personal physician." Tsunade replied with a smirk as she walked past the room's bathroom and came into view of the white-haired man, followed by both Minato and Naruto, whom were at her heels due to their need to see for their own eyes the older man's condition.

"Bitch." Jiraiya muttered.

"Dad." Minato said in a mockingly stern voice. "It's not very nice to call mom a bitch."

"Minato! Naruto!" Jiraiya called out when he saw the two blonde-haired males walking into his sight.

Naruto paused in his strides as he saw the older man in bed for the first time. Words seemed to fail his as he took in every detail, no matter how small, about his grandfather, whom looked so excited to finally see a different face beside the one of his grandmother.

He had definitely lost a great deal of weight, as was evident in the way that his skin seemed to hang more loosely around his body instead of wrapping around his muscled form tightly as it had the last he had saw him. The older man's dark eyes did not hold the same mischievous gleam within them and his smile seemed more forced than it had even needed to be before. Even Jiraiya's white hair seemed to have lost its old sheen it used have. Everything about Jiraiya seemed to be slowly losing its life and vigor. The very thought brought back that wave of nausea that had plagued the tan boy while he stood outside the hospital door moments ago.

"Sorry for not coming sooner." Minato said half-heartedly as he sat down in the armchair that was positioned beside the hospital bed. That had probably been Tsunade's seat before they had arrived, but the older woman did not seem to mind relinquishing her seat to her son.

"Nonsense! Both you and Naruto have lives beyond an old man like me." Jiraiya said with a wide grin. "Though," he began to whisper as he leaned closer to his son. "I wouldn't have minded if you had come a few days earlier. Tsunade is _killing _me!"

"I heard that." Tsunade retorted as she thrummed her fingernails along her arm as she crossed both of them under her chest. Both Minato and Jiraiya let out a small laugh at the older woman stared at them with a sneer that seemed to radiated imaginary daggers, all directed at her son and ex-husband.

"Hey, Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted, trying to change the subject and get the blonde woman's wrath away from himself. "Why are you just standing there?"

When he had been addressed, Naruto wanted to make his legs move, but his appendages felt as if they had been glued to his spot. He wanted to both get away from the hospital room and people within it and yet at the same time he wanted to get closer, if only to see for himself that this was not some sort of bad dream.

As silence filled the room, the adults soon became increasingly worried for the youngest member of the family. "Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, concern lacing his voice. The sudden noise made the tan boy's bright blue eye shoot up to looked into the faces of his grandparents and of his father, all of them wearing expression that revealed their apprehension and worry. Finally, it seemed as if the young blonde had found his voice, but had not yet been able to regain the ability to form anything that resembled a coherent phrase or word.

"I… I…" he tried to force out of his mouth, unable to take the many worried stares that were completely focused on him and him alone. "I have… to use the bathroom."

And with that, Naruto ran out of the hospital room, passing the bathroom that was included within the room, and practically slamming the door in his attempt to leave as quickly as he possibly could. He ran down the hall and only stopped when he actually found the bathrooms, running into the tiled room and leaning over one of the porcelain sinks.

He tried to hold back the bile that he felt building up in the back of his throat, but eventually his last bit of control over his body broke and a stream of vomit landed against the shiny, white surface of the sink. Naruto looked up at his reflection in the mirror that hung above the sink, only to turn his gaze away from himself and grabbed a few paper towels to clean the last bits of vomit that clung to his mouth. He turned on the water so that the clear liquid could wash away the mess that he had made, and then placed his hand under the faucet to gather some water within his palm. He placed his hand at his lips and drunk the cool liquid, swished it around his mouth for a minute before spitting it back out into the sink.

The vile taste in his mouth still lingered, but at least it was not a potent as it had been moment before and for that Naruto was grateful. He grabbed another paper towel and began to dry his mouth and face free of any remaining drops of water still lingering along his tan flesh, which seemed paler now that he had thrown up.

Blue eyes once again looked up to see the reflection of the blonde-haired boy within the mirror. Naruto instantly regretting looking back up at his reflection, for it only seemed to mock him. The blonde could not help but see the face of a coward when he looked into the mirror. The blue eye that were reflected back to him just seemed to be looming over him and reminding him of how he had just run out of his own grandfather when this could very well be the last time he could see the older man.

The blonde felt sick again when he continued to think about his despicable actions.

Naruto then heard the sound of the bathroom door click open and turned his he to see his father enter into the bathroom with the same look of concern still in place on his face. The younger of the two looked away quickly and choose to stare down at the water running down the smooth, porcelain sides of the shiny, white sink. His hand gripped tightly at the smooth surface as he heard the soft footsteps of his father coming closer to himself.

"Naruto?" Minato asked cautiously as his own hand reached out to turn off the faucet and stopped the cool liquid from pouring down into the sink. "Are you okay?"

All he could was huffed at the question. Naruto was sure that anyone could see, no matter how stupid they were, that he was definitely not all right and that no amount of covering up could hide that fact. But he played along with his father's formalities and gave a short response, which ironically reminded somewhat of Sasuke. "I'm fine." He practically snapped.

"Okay. Stupid question. I get it." Minato said, a slight hint of annoyance mixed in with his voice.

"What do you want me to do, dad?" Naruto asked, still unable to let his gaze move from the smooth surface the sink below him. His hands tighten their grip on the sink as he awaited his father's voice once again.

"Just go talk to him, Naruto." The older blonde said, his voice so soft that Naruto was almost unsure if he had in fact heard his father speak or if the voice had come from his own head. "This is hard for him too."

"I… I know." He admitted, his grip on the sink loosening slightly.

"If you know that already then you should be speaking with your grandfather." At that, Naruto's bright, wide eyes fell onto Minato's serious face. He felt almost too shocked at his father sudden backbone, which seemed to have disappeared since sometime around the beginning of the week.

But he knew that his father was right. He normally was. He let his blue orbs glance one more time as his reflection in the mirror, as if he was checking to make sure that the criticizing person in the person was still there, but instead he only found himself staring back into his eyes. He let go of the sink and then silently followed his father back to the hospital room in which his grandparents were currently residing within.

He lingered in the doorway for a few seconds longer than was absolutely necessary, but after a deep and calming breathe he walked completely into the hospital room, which roused the attention of the older residents of the room.

"S-Sorry about that." Naruto said softly, not meeting the eyes of either of his grandparents. "the car ride must have had more effect on me than I thought."

Tsunade looked up at her son and silently nodded her head toward the door, giving the blonde-haired man the signal to leave the room. Minato got the hint and soon he and Tsunade were heading toward the door. "Be right back. Going to go get some coffee." The older woman lied as she pushed her son quickly out of the room, knowing that Jiraiya and Naruto would be better off if the two of them were alone.

"She needs it." Jiraiya joked to the young boy, still standing a few feet away from the hospital bed. "She's got bags under eyes so big that I think they're going to consume the rest of her wrinkled face." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but the most that Naruto could offer his grandfather at the time was a short and barely audible chuckle.

A loud sigh escaped from the older man's lips as he ran his long fingers through his shaggy white locks. He turned his dark eyes away from Naruto for only a moment before deciding that there was no sense in beating around the bush any longer.

"Naruto." He said, his voice more demanding and stern. The sudden change in tone made Naruto bring his eyes up to meet his grandfather gaze, letting Jiraiya see how scared and nervous the young blonde was as he stood practically up against the opposite wall of the hospital room. "Come and sit." The older man order as he patted the cushion of the arm chair that still sat by his bedside. Naruto paused in his actions for a moment, his face looking as if he was mentally contemplating with himself if he should do as he was told or remain where he was. The former seemed to have won the internal argument and the blonde-haired boy slowly made his way over the armchair, gently placing himself in the seat like it was going to collapse with his added weight.

"I'm sorry." Naruto confessed after a short moment of silence passed between them.

"For what?" Jiraiya asked as he sat in his bed, utterly confused by his grandson's actions.

"For running out like that."

"Hell, if they didn't have me hook up to all this shit," Jiraiya moved his arm around to put focus on the many machines that surrounded his bed that were currently hooked up to his arm through needles and wires. "I would have run out of here just the same."

Naruto let himself laugh a little at the older man's attempt at humor. Soon the laughter died in his throat and the two of them were once again bombarded by the heavy tension and silence that filled the room. "Why did you keep this from me?" The question had been dancing around the blonde's brain every since he had found out about his grandfather's… condition, and now finally he was able to asked the source and get the answer to the persistent question.

"I didn't want you to worry."

"But of course I would worry, Pervy Sage!"

"You can't even drop the stupid nickname when a man is sick?" He asked in a fake annoyed voice that only made his grandson angry that he had tried to change the subject to a lighter topic. He sighed once again and ruffled his hair, much in the same way that Minato always did when he was stressed or unsure of what he should do in a difficult situation. "I know. That's why I was trying to keep it from you. Hoping that somehow, I would get better and that telling you wouldn't have been necessary."

"Things don't always work out for the better." Naruto replied, his blue eyes glancing away from the older man before him.

"Gees. You've been hanging around the Uchiha kid too much." Jiraiya startled Naruto by mentioning Sasuke, and so the blonde brought his attention make to his grandfather. "You're starting to sound just as depressing as him. Where's all that optimism you used to have?"

Naruto actually let out a real laugh that time. Jiraiya was too happy to see the young boy actually laughing instead of faking happiness for his sake that he could not help but join in with the younger male. "I'll be sure to tell him that he's rubbing off on me too much next time I see him." The blonde-haired boy then paused and looked up at his grandfather, his blue eyes wide and expectant. "You're… really dying, aren't you?"

"… Yeah." He answered, his tone reflecting the same sadness and desperation that Naruto held. Before the white-haired man could really even finish his reply, Naruto had flung himself at the older man and latched his arms around his grandfather's torso. The blonde realized how much weight the other man had lost when he noticed that for the first time his arms were able to full wrap around Jiraiya's chest and have his hands lock together. Naruto was sure that if he tried, he could probably even make his hands reach all the way to his wrists if he tried to tighten his hold on the older man, but right now he was too afraid of hurting his grandfather to try it.

"It's not fair." He sobbed as he tried to back the tears that stung as the corners of his eyes, threatening to pour down his tan cheeks and stain the older man's hospital robe.

"I… I know." Jiraiya's large hand rubbed his grandson's back soothing, trying to calm the blonde down somewhat. "But I've had a great life. I really have. So don't be sad."

It was the hardest thing that Naruto had ever been asked to do, of that he was sure. To not be sad about his grandfather's death, about the death of the person whom was literally keeping his family together. But he would try. He would have to try. Because it was his grandfather that asked it of him.

So, as he wiped away the few stubborn tears that leaked from his eyes, he decided that he would do as he was told and would no longer be sad about Jiraiya's condition.

Or at least he would try.

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(1) Hey! … Minato's hot XD. Even if he's :dramatic pause: _forty_! Well, almost anyway :P.

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**Oh mah gawd. So angsty XD. I know, but it's kind of necessary. And… it might be getting more angsty. No. That's wrong. Me saying "might." It will. Cause, it's me. And I can't let my stories be happy. On a positive note, this will lead to more moments when Naruto will need comforted. Think about it. It's a good thing in disguise :P.**


	22. It's Accepted

**Okay. I have to apologize. Like **_**seriously**_** apologize to everyone. This update is **_**BEYOND**_** late and I can't apologize for it more. I had almost half of this chapter already written when… my computer **_**completely crashed**_**. I was away at school and couldn't get it fixed ((and it was during finals week too Dx :cry:)). So I had to wait **_**two weeks**_** before I could take it to Best Buy to get it fixed. My hard drive was completely destroyed somehow and I lost everything on my computer! **_**EVERYTHING**_**! So I have to rewrite a few things. This sucks D:**

**So please forgive me and my fucked up computer! I'll try to update more now that I'm on winter break. No promises, but I'll definitely try my best!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But I'm going to get my name changed to Masashi Kishimoto and then go to court for ownership.**

**Warning: One sided Boy Love and language. I have this condition where if I don't swear or have gay guys around me every 10 minutes I go into this state of livid rage and blind fury. And the world doesn't need another mass murderer :P.**

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"…Is your mother insane?" Sasuke asked calmly as he stared at the blonde-haired boy walking beside him as the two of them descended one of the many staircases in Thomas Jefferson high school.

"She might be." Naruto replied, sneaking a quick glance over at the raven and trying to match his strides as they rounded the corner and headed toward the door to exit the large building. "But I personally think that my father is more insane for actually agreeing to have Thanksgiving with her and Iruka."

"Maybe he wants to make peace." The young Uchiha suggested as he shrugged his pale hands into the pockets of his loose denim jeans.

"Or to kill him." Naruto mumbled, trying not to laugh at his own sarcastic remark.

Sasuke resisted his own urges to laugh and merely cleared his throat to rid himself of the misplaced laughter. "I'd like to think that your dad is saner than that, Naruto."

"I'd like to think that too…" the blonde paused as he and Sasuke stopped at the edge of the cement courtyard in the front of the school. The two of them waited until a car was kind enough to let them cross over to the other side of the road and then continued on their way toward the lower parking lot, where the cars and drivers would not be as kind and courteous.

"…" Sasuke dark orbs glance over at his suddenly silent friend for as instant. Since the beginning of November he had noticed subtle changes in his friend and Sasuke would be lying if he had said that he was not worried about Naruto. The blonde was going through so much: his parents divorcing and his grandfather dying. Sasuke could not imagine how his best friend was able to take on such heavy burdens and still carry on with his everyday life and smile. Though the raven noticed that the smiles came a little more forced and that the depression was kept hidden behind that mask of happiness the blonde had put up around him. But Sasuke dared not say anything to bring up the painful memories within Naruto. He decided that he would let his friend deal with his problems the way that he wanted and that he would always be there for him, just in case things got to be too much for him to handle on his own.

Though Naruto was stubborn and Sasuke just hoped that the blonde would swallow his pride and actually come to him if he was in over head.

"… Maybe this will be a good thing." Sasuke offered as he walked up to car and unlocked both the driver's door and the passenger's automatically when he pressed the button on his keychain. He opened the door, signally to his friend that his own door was open as well, and started the ignition, even though he knew it would be quite a while before he was able to pull out and get into the long line of cars that were also waiting to exit the premises.

"How is it a good thing, may I ask?" Naruto asked as he pulled his seatbelt across his chest and buckled it quickly, waiting for the click that would tell him it was secure.

"Well…" The Uchiha paused to gather his thoughts. "Maybe your mom really does want everything to be put in the past." He said while he gave a quick glance over to the line of cars and saw a teacher stopping the line of traffic to let him merge in with the rest of the cars. "And to finally get rid of all the tension and ill-will between your dad and Iruka."

Naruto huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. His shoulders rose up, letting his chin be buried in the collar of his hoodie as his blue eyes darted to the window so that he could watch the other TJ students flocking to their vehicles as quickly as they could, thinking that they faster the ran the faster they could get home even though with the traffic that was always present in the lower park lot it was not possible to get home quickly. His thoughts drifted off to his mother's scheme and wondered, for only a moment, if it could possibly work and rid his family of the tension and anger. But as soon as the thought drifted into his head, he pushed it away, knowing that his father would never forgive Iruka and his mother just because they had invited him to their home for Thanksgiving dinner.

"Don't worry about it." Sasuke said once he finally made his way onto the main road just outside the campus of the school.

"Huh." Naruto whipped his head around as Sasuke pulled him from his previous thoughts.

"I just said that you shouldn't worry about it so much." The raven repeated, risking at quick glance over at his friend and then letting his dark eyes move back to focus on the road ahead of him, though Sasuke was pretty sure that he could drive Old Clariton road with his eyes closed since he had driven along this save patch of road too many times to count. "Everything will be okay."

There was a short pause between the two boys. "… Do you really think so?" Naruto's soft voice was barely heard over the sound of the engine, but the low voice found its way into Sasuke's ears.

The raven smiled in a reassuring way; he did not know if Naruto was even looking at him, but he still kept the smile upon his thin lips just in case the blonde was glancing over at him for comfort and support. "Yeah. I think things will eventually work out. Just give it time."

A small smile graced Naruto face, hidden from the raven's view as he kept his head turned toward the passenger's window. The blonde pressed the side of his tan face against the cool glass as his blue eyes glance as the scenery that quickly passed him by, his arms dropping to the sides of his torso and laying casually on his lap. "Okay. If you say so." He replied back softly.

Both of them wore their own secret smiles the entire car ride to Naruto house. When Sasuke's car pulled into the drive way, Naruto exited the car, but stopped Sasuke from pulling away as he closed the passenger door. The blonde quickly ran behind the car and stopped when he was in front of the mailbox. Sasuke, who now understood why he could not pull away immediately (cause he would have run Naruto over when the blonde-haired idiot ran behind his car), put his car in reverse and slowly backed out of the short driveway.

Naruto opened the mailbox slowly, as he had done so many times before with anticipation racing through his body, he closed his eyes momentarily as if he was afraid that peeking early would ruin his luck. He opened his beautiful, blue orbs slowly and gazed into the dark insides of the mailbox and quickly pulled out the pile of mail and went through the several envelopes until his eyes landed on the very object that he had been hoping would arrived for weeks now.

He gripped the envelope close to his chest and then ran out in front of Sasuke car while the blue vehicle was getting ready to take off toward the raven's home. Sasuke slammed his foot on the breaks as a blur of blonde hair zoomed out in front of his car, which caused him to hit his forehead against the steering wheel.

The Uchiha put his car in park, not caring if his car _was_ in the middle of the road. He had to beat his best friend to a bloody pulp for scaring him half to death by jumping out in front of a moving vehicle.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you, Naruto?!" Sasuke yelled as he slammed his door shut and began to walk over to the excited blonde.

"My letter from Edinboro just came!" Naruto chirped as he pushed the small envelope into Sasuke's face; the closeness of the object obstructed his vision and made the font across the letter blurred at this close distance. Sasuke grabbed the object in front of his face, pulling it away from the blonde's hands and then held it out in front of him, his pale fingers digging into the white paper envelope as he looked over the lettering that was printed along the top of the packet.

"…So it is." He replied as his dark eyes focused back on his friend's ecstatic face.

"I want you to look at it with me!" Naruto said with a bright smile, his tan hands reaching out and grabbing onto Sasuke's wrist before the blonde pulled him out of the street and into his house. Sasuke blushed as his wrist was still tightly held within the blonde's grasp while the two of them entered into the empty house, but tried to rid his face of the access color when Naruto finally turned to face him.

"Are you going to open it?" Sasuke asked his friend, lifting up the envelope in his free hand.

"Yes." Naruto said as he went to grab the letter, but his hand froze mid way and then dropped quickly back down to his side. "No, you open it. I'm too nervous." Naruto then released his hold on Sasuke wrist and turned around, letting his back face his best friend and began to pace in his anticipation.

Sasuke's long fingers lingered over the seal for a moment as his gaze followed the frantic blonde, walking back and forth and more than likely wearing a path in the beige carpet beneath his feet. "You sure?" He asked just before he pealed open the envelope, waiting just long enough for Naruto to glance over at him and nod anxiously before he continued to open the letter.

Dark eyes scanned over the letter as Sasuke pulled the piece of paper out of the envelope, reading the words printed of the sheet just to make sure he read them correctly. His mouth opened slightly and the silence caused Naruto to stop pacing and to finally notice Sasuke's astonished expression. "What does it say?" the blonde had to keep his voice in tack, for he knew that if he allowed himself to speak with as much tension as he felt building up within him, he would be shouting instead of talking.

"Dear Naruto," Sasuke read off slowly, his dark eyes following the small print on the paper as he read the words off. "We are glad to inform you of your acceptance into Edinboro University of Pennsylvania! Naruto you got in!" Even Sasuke could not help but let his excitement out as he pushed the piece of paper back in his friend's face, forcing the blonde to look at the letter himself.

Slowly, Naruto reached his tan hands out to grasp onto the piece of paper. As he took it in his hand he felt his body shake slightly with excitement. Naruto pulled the letter so close to his head that he was practically rubbing his face in the piece paper. He could cry he was so happy.

He got in. Naruto was accepted into Edinboro University. He could go to the same college as Sasuke. Finally, after weeks upon weeks of worrying and watching as every other student in his high school received countless acceptance letters from a plethora of colleges, most of which he had never heard, he had received his own letter. And was accepted.

Sasuke had been right. Everything was going to be okay. Even if his father never got along with his mother's new boyfriend. Things seemed to have a way of fixing themselves and making sure that everything is as it's supposed to be. And for now this little bit of happiness set everything into place and things did not seem as bad as they had seemed mere moments ago.

He just hoped it would stay like this. At least for a little bit longer.

"Let's go out and celebrate!" Naruto shouted, throwing the letter and the envelope up into the air and letting them fall whatever they choose to land as he latched his arm around Sasuke's neck, pulling the raven-haired boy closer to him in the process.

"We have work, idiot." Sasuke said, trying not to let the close contact get to him.

"Oh." Naruto said in response, keeping Sasuke still in his grip as he seemed to be thinking for a moment. "Then _tomorrow_ we will celebrate!"

Sasuke could not help but smile at the wide grin that was plastered along Naruto's tan face, stretching the tan flesh and making his bright, blue eyes squint as they looked up to meet his own dark orbs. The geniality of his features just made his chest fill up with an odd, warm feeling that he often felt around his best friend. The Uchiha sighed and resumed his small smile at his best friend, whom was still waiting for Sasuke to agree to his plans. "Okay. We'll celebrate tomorrow." He said reluctantly.

Naruto then released his friend as he began to holler and yell around the room, releasing all his joy now so that he wouldn't be too hyper to concentrate while he was doing busy work at RiteAid. Sasuke could only smile and shake his head at his friend and his childish joy.

But secretly, it was one of things that he liked most about Naruto.

--

"Tell me again why I'm doing this, Kushina." Minato said as he readjusted his cell phone as it rested between his head and his shoulder. The blonde man was currently sorting through so paper that lay spewed about on his work desk and his ex-wife had chosen the perfect moment (the time when he was the busiest he had been all day) to call him up and to go over plans for Thanksgiving.

"_Because it would be stupid for Naruto to have to go to two Thanksgivings." _Kushina replied from the other end of the phone, her voice irritated by her ex's reluctance to attend a simple get together. _"I mean, it was only going to be you, your mother and Naruto for Thanksgiving dinner anyways, so you might as well just skip out on making a dinner that's too big for the three of you and eat with us."_

"Who's going to be with you and Iruka?" Minato tried to say the man's name without sounding bitter and he hoped that he's self control had kept him from getting Kushina even more annoyed.

"_He said that his cousin and his girlfriend, his grandfather and his cousin's nephew."_ Kushina replied slowly as if she was trying to remember all the guests that Iruka had told her. _"So it's only gonna to be nine in total with you, your mother and Naruto."_

"I guess that not too bad." Minato admitted. He let his fingers idly play with the pen that was set on his desk as he thought of the pros and cons of this situation.

"_It'll be fine. Just be civil. We want Naruto to have a normal holiday and not feel like his parents can't be in the same room without fighting."_

"We can't."

"_Minato!" _Kushina yelled into the phone, causing Minato to pull his cell phone away from its place in between his head and shoulder and move it further away from his damaged ear. He winced slightly and then put the phone back to his ear slowly, almost overly cautious now that Kushina had already shouted into his ear once during this phone call.

"Well it's true, Kushina." The blonde-haired man replied back sternly. "It's not like we can separate and then all of a sudden I forgive you or Iruka."

"…" Kushina was oddly silent on the other end of the phone, which Minato took as a sign to assume that he was right but his ex-wife refused to admit it to him.

"I'm going to agree with you, though." Minato said after a long and awkward pause held between him and his ex-wife. "I want Naruto to have a normal holiday as well. So… how about a truce for now." The blonde offered jutting his bottom lip out slightly as his childish behavior got the better of him.

"… _All right, Minato."_ Kushina said with a long, heavy sigh. Minato felt slightly agitated that the redhead on the other end of the phone sounded as if she was forcing herself to agree to his terms. "_We'll be civil. For Naruto's sake." _There was a short pause from Kushina, but she quickly recovered her composure and began talking once again. _"So be at Iruka's house at four on Thursday. Dinner should be ready by five or six."_

"Got it." Minato replied, letting his attention drift back to the mass of papers that were spread out along the entirety of his desk.

"_Do you need the address again?"_ Kushina asked quickly.

"No. I remember the address." Minato almost said bitterly. He could tell that Kushina heard his resentful tone by the half muffled huff that he heard in the background from Kushina's side of the phone call. "Is that all?" he asked, desperately wanting to end the phone call as soon as possible.

"_No. That's it."_

"Then I guess I'll see you Thursday, Kushina."

"_Yeah." _The redhead replied back, annoyed with her ex-husband and his stubbornness. _"See you later, Minato."_

"Bye."

And just like their phone call ended. Though, Minato thought that it had gone on for much too long. Speaking with his ex-wife was harder than he ever thought it would be. The blonde could just not help the rage that began to build up within him every time he thought about why the two of them separated in the first place.

He let out a long and drawn-out sigh and he reclined back into his swivel chair. He hoped that having Thanksgiving with Kushina and Iruka was not going to be just another regretted mistake.

For he was already beginning to regret the decision now.

* * *

**Sorry this was so short. I didn't have much time to re-write it and I wanted to end the chapter here and then have Thanksgiving in the next chapter. That's probably going to be much longer, since I wanted a lot of stuff to happen and there's going to be more characters making appearances. They're probably going to be really easy to guess XD.**

**Okay review please! I'll make me feel like you all don't completely hate me XP ha, ha.**


	23. It's Ruined

**Yay! Update :D! And it's not two weeks late! :happiness: I really do feel bad when I can't update on time. I always feel like I'm disappointing people.**

**Oh just wanted to give a little shout out to my reviewer ****meshalaX****. She gave me this whole cool plot including Kakashi and Minato. It was seriously awesome. I feel so bad that I can't use it. I already have something planned for Kakashi D:. I'm sorry! But know that it was AWESOME!! And you were close on a few things. Good for you :D!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Even though I can sometimes take as long as Kishimoto-sensei to settle things, it is not my story. DAMN YOU!! :rawr:**

**Warning: One sided Boy Love and language. 'Cause when you think about it, life is just like a circle. There are any corners. There is only a circle … :awkward pause: I don't know where I was going with this one.**

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Dread is not a word that Naruto often used in his everyday life, but he felt that the verb was very appropriate as he stood outside of Iruka's house with his father to his right and his grandmother to his left. For he pretty much dreaded every single aspect of this dinner that lay ahead of him and his family.

Naruto could think just about million other situations and places that he would rather suffer through. He had already counted off about fifty or so before the three blondes had even reached the front door and he was sure that he could get in another five dozen before anyone came to answer the door. Or at least he would have if he was not pulled from his thoughts by the other two members of his family standing at either side of him.

"I'd rather spend Thanksgiving with your father." Tsunade announced randomly right after Minato had rung the doorbell. The two males stared up at the older woman for a moment before silently agreeing that it would have been better to spend Thanksgiving with Jiraiya in the hospital.

"Now, mom." Minato tried to reason with the older woman, but was cut off before he could even make an agreement.

"This is fucking retarded." Tsunade muttered.

"MOM!!" Minato's mouth hung open as he heard his mother use such colorful language.

"Oh don't give that, Minato." Tsunade said as she pushed a lock of straw blonde hair behind her ear and adverted her son's stern gaze. "You of all people know how screwed up this little holiday dinner is. I always thought Kushina was smarter than this."

"Please be civil, mom." Minato practically begged.

"I need a drink." Minato and Naruto both chose to ignore the older woman and her mumbling at that point, for they knew that nothing would be able to change the older woman's view on the topic. Luckily their attention was pulled away from Tsunade when the front door swung open. Naruto felt the two adults on either side of him grow silent as they saw the brunette standing in the doorway, a grin in place on his scarred face that just seemed to radiate friendliness.

"Welcome." Iruka said, his smile never faltering as he spoke. "Please come in."

When no one made any effort to move from the positions, Naruto let out a barely audible sigh and stepped closer to the brunette in front of him and his stubborn family. "Hey there, Iruka." Naruto said with as must cheerfulness as he could muster with the intense tension from his father and grandmother suffocating him. "It's been a while."

"Good to see you too, Naruto." Iruka responded as he pulled the front door open even wider to let the young boy into his house.

"Are you guys coming in?" Naruto asked his family, turning his head momentarily to face the two adults and hoped that his expression would make them understand how childish they were acting.

Minato was the first to step up to his son's little challenge once he realized what the young male was scheming. He cleared his throat and walked up to the threshold, stopping right in front of Iruka. When the scarred man turned to face the older blonde-haired man standing before him, it was almost as if the two of them were holding a silent staring contest, both waiting to see who would crack first under the pressure.

"Umino Iruka, I presume." Minato said calmly, his blue eyes secretly gauging straight into Iruka's friendly exterior.

"Yes. And that would make you Minato." The brunette answered back with a smaller smile than he wore previously. "Please. Do come in."

After another moment of silent judging and brooding on Minato's part, he and Tsunade finally entered into the large house. Almost as soon as they walked into the house were they met by a very familiar redheaded woman, sporting her brightest smile any of them had ever seen.

"You're here!" she cheered as she walked closer to the group of people standing before the front door. "Naruto, I see that you were able to get your father and grandmother into the house without a fight."

"Funny, Kushina," Minato interjected the redhead and his son's conversation.

"Now everyone come into the dining room so I can introduce you." Kushina replied back, ignoring her ex's words entirely, and pushing lightly on her son's back in an attempt to lure the other guests into the room with her son as the bait. Begrudgingly, Tsunade and Minato followed the pair into the dining room slightly interested about meeting other family members to the home wrecker known as Iruka.

When the group of people walked into the dining area, Naruto was surprised to see a pretty interesting group of people considering that, beside Iruka's scar across the bridge of his nose, the brunette looked pretty normal. The person sitting closest to the entrance into the large room was a wrinkled old man, well into retirement age, whose smile seemed to hold all his acquired knowledge and wisdom that he had gained over his many years. Next to him sat a significantly younger boy, more than likely just entering into his teen years. The kid's head of brown hair was hidden under a pale yellow beanie and he wore an expression that just screamed there were so many other places that he would rather be than stuck in a house with nothing but adults (excluding Naruto of course).

Naruto glanced over to the other side of the table and saw a man and a woman, quietly talking to one another as if they were trying to keep something between them a secret and afraid that others would over hear their precious conversation topic. The woman stood out more to Naruto for her eyes were such a piercing shade of red that stood out even more due to the pale blue eye shadow that encased her entire upper eyelid. As she continued to speak quietly with the man beside her, she pushed a stray lock of her long, wavy, black raven hair behind her ear, which drew more attention her eyes now that her hair was pulled out of her face. The man beside her seemed relatively normal to Naruto. Tanned skin, short, spiky, black hair; his side burns disappeared into his beard which was trimmed so that it created a sort of outline around his face. A cigarette was held between his index finger and his middle finger, which made Naruto wonder if Iruka was really okay with him smoking in his house.

Kushina cleared her throat as he walked into the dining area, drawing the attention of the other four occupants to the new group of people as they lingered by the dining room entrance. She then looked over at Iruka expectantly, making the brunette walk in between his family and his unlikely guests.

"I think introductions are in order." The brunette said as he scratched the bridge of his nose, gliding his fingernail along the outline of his scar. "This gentleman here is my grandfather, Sarutobi," Iruka said as he pointed to the elderly man, before he moved on to the young boy beside him. "This is my nephew, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru and Sarutobi looked over at the group, their expression completely different from one another. The elder of the two gave the group a welcoming smile, making his wrinkled flesh stretch over his cheeks, while the young brunette just grunted as turned away from the new people. Naruto felt insulted that this young kid had no interest what so ever in him and his family, but he really could not really blame him. After all he also had a million other places that he would rather be than here. The blonde suddenly got curious as to why this young kid would not want to be around his family on Thanksgiving.

"And on the other end of the table is my cousin, Asuma, and his fiancée, Kurenai." The young couple greeted the small group of people who still stuck close to the entrance into the living room, afraid to actually get inside where they feared the worse confrontations would occur. "Everyone, this is Naruto, Kushina's son, and his father, Minato, and this is—"

"Tsunade." Sarutobi interrupted the younger man as he suddenly rose from his seat at the large table. "It is a small world after all, it seems."

"Sarutobi. I thought that was you." Tsunade said with a small smirk as she took a few step closer to the older man. "How long has it been?"

"Quite a few years, since the last time we meet you were a medical intern and I was still working at the hospital." He answered back and rose to his feet as well so that he could meet the woman's honey gaze and returned her smile.

"Yes. You're hair hadn't even started to gray out back then." Tsunade chided with a smirk to the older man in front of her.

"You haven't changed at all." He mused to himself as his smile grew wider, memories of the past coming back to him.

"You know each other?" Kushina questioned as she glanced back and forth between the old, wrinkled man and her ex-mother-in-law.

"Yes. He ran the first hospital I ever work for. You might have known that, Kushina." Tsunade replied back, spite evident in her voice even though she did not bother to look over at her once daughter-in-law and continued to look on at her old boss. "If you ever took any interest in anyone else's life but your own." She added in, her voice purposely taking on an acidic quality. The redhead huffed and took a step toward the blonde-haired woman, only to be stopped by her new lover, whom seemed to want to keep good blood between everyone in the room and avoid confrontation between his family and Kushina's.

"Yes, that's definitely the same old Tsunade I remember." Sarutobi holler as he went into a fit of laughter.

"Why don't you take a seat while we finish up with the food?" Iruka offered to his standing guest, whom for some reason had refused to move from the dining room entrance, as he pushed the still seething redhead into the kitchen.

"I'll help you two." The woman called Kurenai said as she rose from her chair, finally revealing her perfectly curved body encased in a rather tight navy dress once the table was not obstructing the view of the raven-haired woman. She then left the room with other two, leaving her fiancé behind, though he did not really seem to care that he had just been abandoned; he simply leaned back in his chair and snuffed out his cigarette only to pull out anothe4r one from the half empty pack in his pocket. Naruto wonder momentarily how black his lungs must be if this was how badly this man was addicted to those cancer sticks.

Tsunade and her old colleague, Sarutobi, sat down next to one another, already entangled in conversation about the good old days always to the events that were currently taking place in their lives. Minato sat down next the man called Asuma and quietly asked to bum a cigarette off of him. Naruto could not blame his father. Hell, he'd never touched a cigarette in his life and he could already feel his body crave nicotine so that he could relax in the thick tension that surrounded the room.

Naruto was the last to take a chair and it. He found himself sitting next to the young boy, who remembered was called Konohamaru. The little brunette looked over at his grandfather and noticed the older gentleman beside him was completely distracted by Tsunade and their conversation to pay attention to anything else. With a wicked smirk, he pulled out something from his oversized pocket of his pants and then flipped the device open, which Naruto immediately recognized as a Nintendo DS Lite(1).

His awkwardness around the new boy subsided to his insatiable curiosity. "Hey. What're you playing?" his blue eyes tried to sneak a glance at the small screen, hoping to get a clue as to what the boy was doing on his own without having to be told, in case the kid did not feel like talking with him.

"Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings(2)." He answered back quickly, not even for a second removing his focus from the game console that was resting on his small lap.

To be honest, Naruto was even surprised that kid had answered him back at all. Konohamaru looked like one of those kids that felt they were too good to even bother with other people they felt were beneath them. He wondered if maybe he had jumped to conclusion about the boy beside him. "I know Final Fantasy games. But I haven't played one since X2 came out—"

"I don't care." The brunette butted in quickly, not breaking eye contact with his DS for a moment as he flicked his wrist quickly causing the stylus to move over the lower screen at a rapid pace.

And the same ray of hope for the kid next to him disappeared almost as quickly as it had come into his mind. "Why you little—"

"I'm in the middle of a battle so could you please wait until I hit a save point." Konohamaru muttered again, his expression reading that he was already bored with Naruto as his easily sparked anger.

"Save point my ass." Naruto growled as he snatched away the portable gaming console away from the younger boy's lose grasp.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"You shouldn't be playing videogames in the first place." The blonde snapped back as he held the gaming system just out of the young boy's reach.

"Fine." Konohamaru huffed after a few minutes of trying to retrieve his DS back from Naruto. "You can keep the stupid thing. I'll just but a new one."

"Little brat." Naruto flipped open the gaming console and pressed his index finger against the power switch. A small gasp flew past Konohamaru's lips as he watched his precious DS suddenly switch from his game to a void of black, only reflecting Naruto's little triumphant smirk upon the blank screen.

"That was my game!" The young brunette yelled over at the older boy beside him. "I didn't save it!" By now the other adults at the table had already noticed the little squabble going on between the two boys, but decided to keep their distance from the small fight until it was absolutely necessary to interfere.

"I don't care." Naruto mocked the younger boy with a wicked grin.

"Naruto." Minato finally spoke up, annoyed with his son's childish behavior, and let all his annoyance be fully audible in his stern voice. "Don't be mean. He's younger than you." Naruto grumbled as he flipped the DS closed and passed it back over to the younger boy beside him reluctantly, which got his father off of his case and he resumed to smoke the borrowed cigarette he got from Asuma.

"Tch." Naruto continued to pout and fume to himself, bringing his arms around his chest as he looked away from the rest of the guests seated around the large dining room table. Konohamaru glanced up at the livid blonde beside him before switching on his DS once again; he was actually a little surprised that Naruto had gotten so angry with him considering most of the people around him had always been nice to him because of his family's wealth. Deciding it best to let the subject drop, his eyes moved back to gaze upon the console's screen only to realize that there was no game being detected. He quickly flipped over the DS and saw that the game cartridge had been removed from the slot in the back of the gaming system somehow and, almost automatically, his attention moved right back to Naruto.

"Did you take my game?" He accused in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

The blonde-haired boy let his blue orbs peer over at the younger boy from the corners of his big eyes for a moment or two before the same wicked smile wormed its way back onto his face. His slowly brought up his tanned hand and showed the younger boy the small game cartridge wedge in between his index and middle fingers. "You only asked for your DS back." Naruto asserted with a confident grin.

"How did you take it without me noticing?" The younger boy had completely forgotten about his previous anger and was now engulfed in the amazing feat that the blonde-haired boy had preformed right in front of his very eyes.

"I'm a ninja(3)." Naruto laughed as he twirled the game card between his fingers.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Konohamaru asked as his eyes followed the Naruto's finger's playing idly with the game cartridge with great interest now.

"Hmm." The blonde thought and then looked down at the brunette and held out the game card in front of the younger boy's face. "Could I trust you to use it for good and not abuse the power?"

"I wouldn't abuse it!" Konohamaru protested a small blush adding a hint of color to his cheeks, his hand reaching up to grab onto the game in Naruto's hand only to pause when the blonde stared at him with eyes that seemed to see right through the brunette and his façade. Naruto's expression turned smug as he saw Konohamaru's determination falter slightly and then let out a soft chuckle before he dropped the game cartridge in the younger boy's palm.

"Just like I thought." He said before turning away from the younger of the two. "Okay. I'll teach you. I mean, what 's the fun in having these tricks up your sleeve if you can't use them for evil every now and then." Konohamaru's expression lifted immediately and then the two of them quickly started to discuss the little trick quietly between themselves.

--

No more than twenty minutes later, Kushina reentered into the living room, looking much calmer than she had when she forced into the kitchen by her new lover, which eased the nerves of the other occupants in the room. She put on her best smile and cleared her throat to gain the attention of all the guests in the dining room.

"Dinner is ready." She announced when everyone's eyes were on her. "Minato, could you help us plate stuff on the table?" She asked the question slowly as if she was playing some sort of mind game that Minato was not prepared for at all. The blonde rose from his seat cautiously starring at his ex-wife and walked passed her into the kitchen so that he could help the others with the trays of food. Kushina soon followed the blonde-haired man into the kitchen and soon the four adults that had entered into the kitchen were carrying plate after plate of delicious looking food.

"Do you need any help in there, Iruka?" Sarutobi asked as he partially stood up from his chair and leaned forward slightly so that the older man could get a better view of the contents within the kitchen.

"No, granddad." Iruka said as he came back into the dining room, holding the tray that held the large and delicious turkey upon it with both hands and then gently setting the plate in the center of the large table. Most of the bird was still intact, minus the wings and the legs being set on a separate plate that lay right beside the large tray. "We've got everything. Just sit down(4)."

Soon the four adults carrying in the food finished their task and rejoined the other guest at the large table, taking their seats and staring at the entire table that was covered with mouth-watering dishes. Once everyone was seated, the plates of food began their trip being passed from seat to seat until every person at the table had gotten a fair share of each delicious dish. During this time, there was some small talk: mostly people asking others to pass plates or if anyone would want a particular dish before it was set back down on the table. But other than those short questions and quick replies, there was a thick silent that had settled amongst the group of people.

Naruto could not let his family suffer through an agonizingly long dinner with this much tension in the room. Swallowing a large mouthful of mashed potatoes, he looked around at the silent people and took a deep breathing, hoping that this would not lead to a horrible fight.

"I got my letter from Edinboro University the other day, mom." The blonde said, using all the bravery he had to speak.

"You did?!" Kushina gasped as she stopped cutting a piece of turkey and set down her fork and knife so that she could listen intently to her son. "So? Were you accepted?"

"Yes."

"THAT'S WONDERFUL, NARUTO!!" Kushina cheered as she hugged on to her son, whom she had coincidently chosen to sit beside. "I'm so proud of you!! I knew the letter would come and accept you! I just knew it! How could they _not _accept you?!"

"Kushina, please lower your voice an octave." Minato retorted as he continued to focus his attention on his meal.

"I'm just showing our son how much I'm proud of him, Minato." Kushina spat back at the blonde-haired man. "Oh! Naruto!" she cheered once again as she latched herself back onto her son. The redhead was obviously excited, but her cheery mood seemed to only aggravate her ex-husband to no extent.

"Congratulations, Naruto." Iruka said as he tried to look past Kushina's form so that he could see the blonde boy in her grasp. "We should celebrate you acceptance and go out to eat one night. My treat."

Minato was about ready to snap as he listened to the brunette speaking to his son. "Oh, no. Iruka, that's fine. We don't need to do that." Naruto mumbled back as he struggled to get oxygen back into lungs when his mother still had a death grip around his chest.

"He's right, Iruka." Minato said, interrupting the conversation between the three people at the opposite end of the large table. "You don't need to bribe my kid with your money."

And just like that, the feeble truce that had been forged was forgotten.

Kushina glared at her ex-husband with a ferocity that could rival Hell itself; her eyes seemed to be a blaze with fire stirring deep within them, the flames so intense that they could almost be tangible. Naruto could feel his mother's limbs tighten and stiffen around his torso before she completely let go of her hold on her only son and rose to her feet quickly, all the time never breaking her focus on Minato.

"Minato." Kushina tried to keep her voice even as she called out to the blonde-haired man. "Would you mind if I have a word with you. Privately." The two of them stared at each other for a moment or two, just long enough for the other people sitting around the large table to practically choke on the tension in the air. Minato held his ground for a moment, knowing that the moment that the two of them were out of earshot a massive fight would ensue. Submitting to his untimely fate, Minato sighed and rose from his chair, paralleling his ex-wife's stance.

"All right, Kushina." He answered before the redhead could storm off toward the front door.

"Good luck, friend." Asuma muttered under his breath to the blonde standing beside him, which earned him a slap on the arm from his fiancée, telling him to mind his own business. After the somewhat sarcastic remark from the man beside him, Minato reluctantly followed Kushina out of the dining room, his pace significantly slower than hers for he knew, from years of living with the redhead, what awaited him.

Naruto slunk down into his chair and covered his face with his tanned hand, squeezing the center of his brow as his frustration boiled over. "I knew this was going to happen." Tsunade said, her posture almost identical to her grandson's with her elegant fingers pinching the bridge of her nose as she took deep calming breaths.

"I'm terribly sorry about all of this, Tsunade." Iruka spoke up. The two blondes could sense that the scarred man felt responsible for the entire mess. Both Tsunade and Naruto could not deny that he had a part in the fight, but they knew that this fight had been premeditated since the moment Kushina had invited them all to Thanksgiving dinner. The older woman took another deep breath before she could even face the brunette and his guilt.

"It's not your fault." The blonde-haired woman breathed out. "It was Kushina's idiotic idea, so she can take the blame for this mess."

Even though some people had found the courage to speak while Minato and Kushina were outside, more than likely screaming their lungs out at one another, the tension and awkwardness still hung dead in the air, causing the other guests to feel more than a little uncomfortable. Naruto felt as if he could kill both of his parents for being the ones to ruin the evening, even though they had been the ones to create the so called "truce" between them. There was a pause, where Tsunade chose gathered up her composure, before the older woman let out one final sigh before a false smile graced her face.

"So," the older woman started out. "Iruka, do you have any liquor in you house?"

--

(1) I love my Nintendo DS Lite. And this is actually something that my friends do when they think I'm not paying attention to them. Just whip out their portable gaming consoles and become consume in their games.

(2) I actually had to research what games had just come out around Thanksgiving. Oh come on! It was over a year ago! I forgot Dx. And I have yet to play that game actually :P.

(3) Well… He is XD.

(4) My grandmother always does this at family get-togethers. She always wants something to do and my mother has to constantly tell her to sit back down XP ha, ha.

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**I think I enjoy Naruto and Konohamaru together a little too much XD. I don't pair them often, but when I do… I enjoy it. :pause: And that was totally not NaruKono in this chapter! I'm just saying I like them together :flail:.**

**And I also had this sneaking suspicion that Tsunade and Kushina would have never gotten along. I mean, everyone did say that Naruto got his personality from his mother and you've seen the way Naruto and Tsunade carry on XD.**


	24. It's Leaving

**I thought I was actually going to be able to get this up yesterday, but then somehow my week got filled up with all these other things that were happening and… Yeah. So sorry about this being a day late. I promise the next chapter will on time! And if I'm wrong then let a house drop on my head! :pause: Err… Maybe I should have something less painful happen to me. You know… Just in case XD.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Oh, but if only I did. Picture it: gorgeous scenery, flashy costumes, and the music of ABBA… Wait. That's Mamma Mia XD ha. I've been watching the new movie too much lately.**

**Warning: One sided Boy Love and language.**

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Sasuke stared across the table with a deadpan expression etched into his pale features at his silent parents, while the two of them ate their Thanksgiving meal in silences. The raven's own spoon hung in midair almost as if Sasuke had been going to place the utensil into his mouth but was so shocked by the force of the thick, silent tension that surround and sheathed his small family.

Next to him sat his elder brother, whom was pretending as if nothing was wrong about the completely silence that his family has settled into somehow. The elder Uchiha son would glance over at his younger brother ever now and then, his concern for why the younger boy stopped eating and chose to stare (border lining a glare) at their parents. Mikoto noticed the odd glare that her son was sending both her and her husband and decided to start up some sort of conversation that would hopefully distract her son from casting such an intense glance over her and Fugaku's way.

"So, Itachi," The raven-haired woman started as she set down her fork and looked up at her eldest son. "How has your search for internships gone? Are you still going to wait a semester to get one?" She asked kindly, hoping that her cheerful tone would egg her child into a conversation.

"I was thinking that I might look for one around the Moon Township area." Itachi said as he made eye contact with his mother for a split second before continuing to look down at his meal.

"Moon. Isn't that where your friend Kisame lives?" Mikoto asked innocently.

Itachi and Sasuke visible stiffened.

The relationship between Itachi and Kisame had been a well-guarded secret between the Uchiha siblings for no more than three years. Both knew what kind of reaction their father would have if he were to ever find out about Itachi's secret relationship and did everything possible to cover up any sign that would lead their parents to that conclusion.

The eldest Uchiha son took a deep long breath that, thankfully, went unnoticed by his father at the very least and then looked up to meet Mikoto's warm gaze. "Yes. Kisame lives around the Moon area, mother."

"You spend too much time with that friend of yours, Itachi." Fugaku said as he took a sip from his coffee mug, not lifting his stern gaze from the food placed in front of him. "You really should focus on other things."

"Like my education and finding myself a girlfriend?" Itachi questioned, his tone full of sarcasm and spite toward his father. Fugaku stopped eating and looked up to meet his oldest son's stoic gaze, holding back years upon years of tension. Mikoto jutted out her lower lips slightly as he glanced between her elder son and her husband, both too stubborn to every waver in their relentless and silent battle against one another. The raven-haired woman often wondered if she had three children in her house instead of just two.

"So, what kind of internship do you want to look for?" she asked, interjecting herself in between the two males whom were locked in a heated and silent battle. "Something in video production, maybe? You really seem to enjoy working at the television station on your campus."

"I heard KTKA was looking for interns." Itachi replied changing his focus over to his mother, enjoying her friendly chatting to his father condescending nature any day.

"Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful." The raven-haired woman smiled warmly at her son, who intern replied with a small friendly smile of his own. "Do you think that you would want to work behind the scene or would you want to work yourself up to become a news anchor?"

Both Itachi and Sasuke internally smiled at their mother's genuine curiosity. It was very refreshing to have their mother around, especially when the need to be a good foil to their stubborn father. The dear woman always seemed to know how to pull conversations between the father and sons to something more whimsical and less stressful. The Uchiha boys definitely did not know if they could handle life with their father had their mother not been around to lift their spirits and reassure them of their father's short-coming on expression his emotions.

Unfortunately, or maybe it was fortunate in a way, the family dinner was interrupted a loud ringing coming from Itachi cell phone, which he had stored safely in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and held the small portable phone up to his ear, only able to get halfway through his usual greeting before the raven silenced himself midsentence.

"Excuse me." Itachi mumbled as he quickly rose from his seat at the dining room table and exited the room to hopefully insure the privacy of his phone call. Sasuke let his dark orbs follow his brother out of the room. He was somewhat concerned from his brother, considering it had been quite some time since he had seen a wave of panic, no matter how brief it made be, flash across his elder brother's face. He wondered momentarily if he should follow Itachi out of the dining room, just to check and make sure things were fine with his brother, but the elder Uchiha soon came back in sight, stopping his mindset right then and there.

"And just what was so important that you were forced to interrupt Thanksgiving, Itachi?" Fugaku asked with his usual stern voice.

"Kisame's apartment caught on fire." He answered back, his voice calm and cool, but his body betrayed his stoic appearance and revealed just how worried and concerned he was for the other man.

"Oh my." Mikoto gasped as her elegant pale hands flew up to her small mouth, her worried eyes gaped and focused on her oldest son. "Is he all right?" she asked, truly worried.

"He's fine. But I'm going over to make sure."

"No you're not." Fugaku stated, rising from the table so that he and his son were at eye level.

"You can't tell me what to do anymore." Itachi snapped back, trying to keep himself together when he was clearly struggling between his worry for Kisame and his anger toward his father. "I'm not a child anymore."

"You still live under my roof and so you'll do as I say!"

"I don't live here anymore." Itachi answered back, stunning the other members of his family. Though Sasuke was stunned for a completely different reason. He knew that his brother was going to end up saying something that he was going to regret later on. He had to do something… _anything_ to help his brother who had nothing but look out for him and his well-being.

"Itachi, don't do this." He said quickly rising from his own seat.

"Stay out of this, Sasuke." Fugaku snapped moving past the younger of the Uchiha siblings so that it would be harder for Sasuke to interrupt his conversation with Itachi.

"He's right for once, Sasuke." Itachi agreed, his voice much softer than Fugaku's. "Just stay out this."

"But—" Sasuke's words died in his throat when he say the pure hate boiling in both his father's and his brother's eyes. This did not concern him any longer. This was no longer about Itachi simply interrupting dinner anymore either. It had evolved past that. Sasuke was almost scared of what could possible happen when both his brother and his father where lost in their own rage.

"Just what do you mean you don't live here?" Fugaku tried his best to scowl at his son in hopes of intimidating the younger man. But intimidation is quite hard when one's young son had grown up some time ago (and surpassed their father in height slightly).

"I've been meaning to tell you and I guess now is a good a time as ever." Itachi replied keeping his calm exterior quite well in the presence of his livid father. "I'm moving out. Completely. And I'm moving in with Kisame."

Sasuke swore that the room grew so incredible quite that he could really heard a pin dropping to the floor, as cliché as that sounded. The youngest Uchiha glanced back and forth between his father and brother. When he noticed the raven-haired woman slowly walking beside her youngest son, the sudden realization that his mother was doing the same exact thing as him was thrust upon him.

She was also waiting for the inevitable burst of anger.

"You're what?" Fugaku did him best not to gawk at his son's statement and keep himself from doing anything too rash.

"I have most of my stuff packed up in my dorm, ready to leave at any moment." A heavy silence settled in between the family. Itachi, realizing that no one was crazy enough to actually try to break the tension, turned to leave for the front door, slipped on his shoes quickly and hoped that he would make it out the door before his father got to him.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Fugaku roared, his temper finally breaking through his composure.

"My home-to-be just caught on fire. I need to be there." Itachi replied as his pale hand latched onto the door knob, twisting it in his anticipation to leave the house as soon as he possibly could. "Besides," he added as his gaze turned to stare at the door in front of him, not trusting his eyes to give away any hint of emotion. "Kisame needs me."

Itachi opened the front door and bolted out of the house as quickly as his legs could carry him. Fugaku was right on his heel, pushing pass the front door as it tried to swing back on it hinges to close itself. Once the older man was outside of his house, he found his son running down the steps toward the driveway, most likely, on his way to his car, which was parked on the curb in front of the Uchiha household.

Mikoto and Sasuke ran after the two heated ravens, stopping at the door frame so that they could still see how Fugaku and Itachi's fight played out. Sasuke wished that this was not happening. That his brother was not being kicked out the house. He truly did not think that he could handle everything in his life without his brother to put thing in perspective for him.

"Itachi!" Fugaku bellowed. "If you leave, don't expect to ever be welcome in this house every again!"

"Fugaku!" Mikoto exclaimed from behind her husband, though her cry fell on deaf ears.

"Fine with me." Itachi called back, before Fugaku stormed back into the house.

Mikoto looked back at the retreating figure of her husband before she descended from the front porch, down the stairs, until she was standing in front of her eldest son. Sasuke followed behind his mother, preferring to be out here with her and Itachi rather than be cooped up in the house with his father and his temper. The raven-haired woman wrapped her pale arms around the older Uchiha sibling, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Please don't worry, Mother." Itachi said soothingly as he placed his large hand on the back of his mother's head, his pale fingers tangled in her long, black locks. "I'll be fine."

"Don't listen to what your father says." The older woman said as she desperately tried to keep in her tears. "You are always welcome here!"

Itachi simply smiled at his mother, knowing full well that if he were to ever set foot back in this house again that his father would personally see to it that he was killed. He hugged the shorter woman tightly before Mikoto hurried back into the large house in hopes that she could find a way to ease her husband's rage.

Then it was only Sasuke who stood in front of Itachi.

Itachi looked over at his younger brother, unsure if he should say something to ease his sibling's worried mind or if Sasuke was actually going to say something to him. There was a long time before the younger raven could say anything to his brother, but suddenly Sasuke found new courage and the words spewed from his mouth.

"You didn't have to do all that." Sasuke tried to glare at his brother, but he just could not get his gaze to match his scowl.

A chuckled slipped past his thin lips. "Everything would have come out eventually, Sasuke." Itachi explained to the younger boy before him as his dark eyes travelled from his brother to look down at the door handle on his car. It seemed to be begging him to open it and leave as soon as he could. "I just sped up the process a little bit."

"I don't want you to leave." Sasuke blurted out, his voice bordering a mumble and a coherent statement.

Itachi looked back up at the younger raven. He was shocked by his little brother's bold statement, but at the same time he was very flattered. His expression softened quite a bit as a genuine smile formed on his pale face. "Sasuke." The older of the two called out. "Come here."

Slightly stunned by his brother's odd request, Sasuke cautiously walked up to his brother, eyeing him with wide eyes, but relaxed when he got a good look Itachi's soft expression. Suddenly Sasuke was enveloped in a pair of pale arms, squeezing him closer to his brother's body. Even though it was not the time for such a thought, Sasuke could not help but wonder when he had reached up to his brother in height. The younger of the brothers always remembered Itachi looming over him and only overshadowed by their father.

"Foolish little brother." Itachi said with a smile. "I'm not leaving. I just won't be here all the time. It'll be the same as when I used to live in my college dorm."

Sasuke had to agree that this was no different from the example that Itachi had given him, but at the same time this situation and one that other instance felt entirely and completely unalike. Maybe it was because to Sasuke this turn of events felt so much more… _permanent_. And it terrified him.

Without the young raven-haired boy even realizing it had happened, Itachi pulled away from his little brother and poked his forehead with his index and middle fingers, much like he used to do when the two of them were children. Sasuke was brought back from his thoughts once his brother's finger collided with his forehead. He shook his head and blinked before realized what his brother had just done to him. A small smile forced itself onto Sasuke's face as his pale hand reached up to rub the skin along his forehead.

"Thanks, Itachi."

"Be good and make sure to take care of our mother for me." Itachi replied before opening his car door and getting into the black vehicle. Sasuke said nothing about the lack of mention of their father, knowing that Itachi would, at least at this point, not care about his well-being.

"I will."

Itachi then rolled down the car window after the engine had roared to life, making Sasuke bend down slightly just in case his brother had any last words to say to him. "Oh and take care of Naruto, too." And with those last words, Itachi change the gear on his car and then drove out of Sasuke's sight.

Red tinted Sasuke's cheeks as he walked back up the many stairs that lead to his front porch. When he opened up his front door, his ears were bombarded with the sound of his father's angry voice shouting and carrying on while his mother's soft voice could only be heard for very short periods of time, as if Fugaku was constantly cutting her off whilst she spoke. Sasuke scoffed at his father and ascended up the stairs to the second floor of the house, taking two at a time to get up there faster. He quickly locked himself up in his room and hoped that no one would be stupid enough to bother him, especially his father. To be honest, Sasuke felt like he could very well do without ever seeing his father again after the way he reacted to Itachi.

The muffled sound of his parents' voices died down after some time, leaving the entire household in a sort of eerie silence. It was not long before the raven-haired boy found himself completely exhausted (more than likely from fuming with anger as he sat up in his room) and fell asleep the moment his body laid down upon his bed.

--

The front door slammed open and then shut, followed by the sounds of heavy footsteps stomping further away from the dining room. Naruto lifted his head from his hands and looked up to see his father reenter the room and walked over to his mother, whom was finishing off the last bit of wine in her glass. Iruka, who looked up to only see Minato instead of the redheaded woman accompanying him, knew something must have gone terribly wrong whilst the pair was outside "talking." He quickly rose to his feet and excused himself from the rest of his guest and rushed out of the dining room and up the large staircase.

"Mom, we're leaving." Minato said softly to the older woman.

"About time." Tsunade mumbled. She rose from her chair and looked down at the older gentleman beside her. "Sarutobi, it was wonderful to meet up with you again. Though I do wish circumstances come have been different."

"Please don't be." The old man replied back with a warm smile as he took the blonde woman's hand in his for a moment before releasing his grip and let her back away toward her son.

"We're leaving?" Naruto asked as he got out of his seat and faced his father and grandmother.

"Yes." Minato replied back quickly as he tried to leave the dining room before his temper got the better of him and he shouted at his son, who did not deserve his misplaced anger.

"Give me a second." Naruto said after a short pause. He fled the dining room and climbed up the staircase, leaving his father and grandmother confused and somewhat worried as to what the young blonde was going to do. When he climbed up the final step he heard a pair of voices muffled slightly, more than likely by a thick, wooden door since Naruto did not see either Iruka or his mother in the hallway. He slowly approached his mother and Iruka's bedroom and stopped when he heard the voice suddenly get louder.

"What do you mean this is my fault?" Iruka's voice questioned an octave louder than it had been a second ago.

"If you hadn't started Minato off like that everything would have been fine right now!" Kushina's angry voice sounded as if she was holding back frustrated tears.

"All I was doing was being nice to Naruto. That's what you wanted, Kushina. Isn't it?" Iruka snapped back. "You just always want everyone to be nice with one another and accept each other right away."

"I never asked you to force Naruto to like you! Don't you put this all on me!"

"I'm not trying to but all the blame on you!" Iruka sounded as if he was ready to break down from all the irritation building up. "I'm just saying that you always do this to people."

"I knew you felt like that!" Naruto heard his mother yell at the brunette. "You feel like I just _make_ people get along with each other!"

"That's not what I said at all!" Naruto even had to admit that even though that was not what Iruka was saying to his mother, it did seem like his mother did_ try_ to make people who obviously want nothing to do with one another be civil with each other.

"Get out, Iruka." Kushina said, her voice finally dropping from the loud shout to more of a muffled sob. "I'm so anger right now and I don't want to be around you when I'm like this." Naruto heard a soft sigh from the other side of the door before the scarred man emerged from the room looking somewhat defeated. Iruka stared at the blonde for a second before his surprise wore off and was replaced by a small smile that was obviously faked.

"N-Naruto." The brunette stuttered slightly. "You heard all that didn't you."

"Some of it." The blonde said softly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop; I just wanted to check on my mom. My dad looked pretty angry when he came back into the house and I wanted to know if she was okay."

Iruka sighed at looked back at the closed bedroom door. "I guess you know that she really isn't fine right now."

"Yeah." Naruto breathed out as his tan fingers ran through his spiky blonde locks, his nails scratching his scalp. He was about to say something when he was interrupted by the brunette.

"I'm sorry about getting your father angry with me." He sputtered out. "I didn't think that it would set him off so much."

"I don't blame you, Iruka." Naruto sincerely replied. "To be painfully honest, I was against this whole combined Thanksgiving from the very beginning."

"You and me both."

"… Huh?"

Naruto stared at the scarred man for a second, his expression giving away just how confused he actually was. "I thought your mother was insane." Iruka kept his voice down and moved away from the bedroom door so that the redhead inside would have less chance of overhearing their conversation. "I knew you dad was still going to be very sore with both me and Kushina. But there was no arguing with her. You're mother so stubborn." Iruka let out a soft chuckle at his own statement.

A short laugh slipped past Naruto's lips as well. "That's very true."

There was a short moment where the two males just relished in the comfortable silence that had settled amongst them once their laughter had died down. It was a very short lived moment for almost as if on cue Naruto remembered that the other two members of his family downstairs were still waiting for him.

"Well, I have to get going." Naruto said, feeling a little awkward. "My dad's decided to leave and he's waiting for me."

"Go on." Iruka replied with a smile.

With that, the blonde scurried down the stairs and meet up with his father and grandmother, who both were waiting patiently (or seemingly patiently) at the front door. Naruto saw out the corner of his eye that Konohamaru sent a goodbye wave and he returned the gesture with a wave of his one and smile before he followed the older members of his family out the front door.

He was honestly glad that it was all over. Even though the experience was actually the roughest thing he had endured, he was glad that his parents would not have to suffer through another painful moment of that dinner.

Especially his father. Especially Minato.

* * *

**Phew! Two chapters full of tension and family togetherness XD. I'm exhausted. And I hope to never have to experience anything even half as stressful as what Sasuke and Naruto both had to go through. Wait… no. I have gone through stuff like that XD ha, ha.**

**Hoped you guys enjoyed that holiday. I may be skipping a few weeks within the next chapter or so. But that doesn't mean that I'll be taking out plot. Everything will still be there. Just a little comprised.**

**Review please :D! I love them!**


	25. It's Lunch

**The internet is a cruel and wicked mistress indeed. I'm sorry that this is a little late, but it really wasn't my fault. Everything was ready. Except my computer :death glare:. It would seem that it truly does hate me and wishes death upon my soul. If the internet STILL isn't working when I do get back up to school I'll have to go get it checked out… **_**AGAIN**_**!!! :dies a little inside:**

**Oh! Just so you know I confused the house that was going to drop on my head. I told it that I technically posted the chapter on time, just wasn't able to do it. It stopped in midair and gave me enough time to escape XD ha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Because we all know that if I did own it, things would have worked out very differently. It would gone a little something like… this :holds up a drawing of Sasuke and Naruto making out while Sakura gives them two thumbs up and a big smile:**

**Warning: One sided Boy Love and language. I realized that I forgot to add in something witty in this space last chapter. What a shame! :long pause: Oh! You wanted me to make up for last week, didn't you? :another long silence: I thought you would have gotten the hint that I wasn't going to do it. Gawd.**

* * *

"My one day off this week and you guys pull be back to the mall." Kiba complained as he, Naruto and Sasuke walked in through the large, front entrance to Century Three Mall, his eyes glancing around at the familiar stores on either side of the wide hall.

"But it's Black Friday." Naruto replied back almost innocently.

"THAT'S EXACTLY MY POINT!! I CAN BARELY BREATH 'CAUSE OF ALL THE PEOPLE!!" Kiba's loud voice was lost in the large crowds that roamed the great hallway of the mall. Sasuke had to admit that the brunette had a point. The mall was filled with at the very least four times as many people as it usually held with its confines. He never did care for crowds, but Naruto had insisted on going to the mall today and he was not going to pass up a chance to hang out with the blonde (and Kiba as well) just because of his dislike for the large hordes.

"But there are crazy sales everywhere!" The blonde-haired boy whined as he began leading the other two boys down similar routes that lead them to their most frequently visited stores.

"Doesn't give you an excuse to join the masses in their frantic shopping frenzy." Kiba chided back as his arms crossed defensively over his chest.

"I decided that I was going to get all my Christmas shopping out of the way early this year." Naruto started to explain as he walked a step (maybe two) in front of both Kiba and Sasuke. "Every year I'm always scrambling the week before to buy all those presents, so I decided that I would do it all now so that I wouldn't have to worry about it later."

"You just scramble at the last minute 'cause you're so absent-minded." As soon as the insult left Kiba lips, Naruto spun on his heels and stopped abruptly, ready to yell with insults of his own at his friend.

"What was that dog-breath?" Sasuke sighed at the childish behavior of his friends, who were currently tossing back insult after insult at one another, hoping that sooner or later the other would run out of comebacks and forfeit the argument (if one could call it such). He was just glad that there were so many people currently roaming the mall so that the mall cops would not bother with his friends' little squabble.

"Let's just buy your presents and get out of here." Sasuke said loudly, trying to be heard over the roar of the large crowds that surrounded the three boys.

"All right." The two of them said, almost in unison, instantly forgetting about their fight.

It took quite some time to get all the presents that Naruto needed to pick up for the many people on his list this year, due to the huge crowds and long lines. But eventually the blonde was able to make all of his purchases, minus one or two gifts that he could not decide on, and the three boys were able to make it out of that Hellhole once known as a mall.

"Want to go eat at Denny's?" Naruto asked once the three males made it back to Sasuke's car, which seemed as if it was parked a mile away from any entrance into the mall. The raven-haired teen unlocked his pretty, blue car, allowing all of them to piles into the vehicle, before he considered his friend's offer.

"Sure. I wouldn't mind getting something to eat." The Uchiha replied as he turned to his right to look over at the brunette whom climbed into the back seat and then continued to watch as Naruto slid into the passenger seat beside him.

"Well it certainly beats this place." Kiba huffed as he settled into the comfortable seat. "Did you see the food court? Almost every table was taken! I never want to go back to the mall on Black Friday ever again!"

"It wasn't that bad." Naruto said with a nervous smile. "I mean, we got really good deals on things so that makes up for it, right?"

"Not a chance." Kiba said with both a deadpan expression and tone to his voice.

The blonde let out a short chuckle at the brunette's statement, hoping that his dog-loving friend would not hate him for forcing him to be in such an environment as the mall on Black Friday. Sasuke started up the car and carefully pulled out the parking spot, silently cursing to himself when a car came up almost right behind him (giving him very little room to maneuver his car), just waiting for him to surrender his parking spot. Once he was able to make his way out of the packed parking lot, it was practically three minutes later that they pulled into the Denny's parking lot since the restaurant was literally one lot down from Century Three Mall.

Once the Uchiha had found a spot in which to park, the three boys exited the car and proceed into the restaurant, which, to Kiba's joy, was far less crowded that the mall's food court. They were giving a booth in the very back of the building, a regular spot for them since they starting coming to Denny's when they started high school(1), almost immediately after they walked into the restaurant.

As they sat down, a young waitress set down three menus for them before she left to check on another one of her customers. The three boys thanked her and then opened up their own individuals menus to look at their choices.

"I forgot to ask you guys." Kiba said randomly whilst the three of them looked over their menus. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

Both Sasuke and Naruto visibly tense at the question.

Sasuke realized that his blonde friend had also remained silent, which was odd considering Naruto was hardly ever silent for long periods of time. The raven kept his gaze on his best friend, his curiosity growing rapidly, as he hoped that Naruto would eventually speak up and reveal what had happened during Thanksgiving with his mother and father that was so terrible.

"Well, you know how my mom invited me, my dad and my grandma over for dinner." Naruto started out with a nervous grin placed firmly on his lips. "Let's just say it didn't go very well." The blonde then focused his gaze back on his menu and prayed that his friends would not pry any further.

"Dude, I still can't believe your family did that." Kiba said, showing honest pity for his friend. "Must have been terrible."

"It wasn't all that bad, I guess." Naruto admitted, placing his menu down on the table. "Turns out my grandma used to work with Iruka's grandfather."

"That's a weird coincidence." Kiba said before their waitress came back over to their booth.

"What can I get you boys to drink?" the young girl, no older than any of the boys sitting at the table, said with a bright smile. The group figured that she must have been a new employee since none of them recognized her and she did not seem like she hated her job just yet(2).

"I'll just have a diet Coke." Kiba said with a charming smile, no doubt trying to win over the new waitress. Sasuke momentarily wondered to himself if all the flirting that Kiba did with the waitress here was intentionally or all subconscious. He was pulled from his thoughts when the young girl looked over at him with expectant eyes.

"I'll have a coffee." Sasuke said, his voice just barely audible. The waitress wrote down his order and then finally looked over at the last of the three boys, her cheerful smile never wavering.

"Sprite for me." He answered her gaze with a smile of his own.

"I'll back in a minute with your drinks." And with that, the young girl walked away and left the three friends alone once again.

"How did your Thanksgiving go, Sasuke?" Naruto questioned, trying to get the attention off him and his family's problems.

"…" The raven took a long paused before he glanced up from his menu and looked onto the curious faces of his friends. With a mental sigh he forced the words from his mouth. "My parents found out about my brother and Kisame."

"What?!" Naruto gasped, practically jumping from his seat in his surprised state. Kiba wore a similar expression to the blonde sitting across from him, but he kept his composure better and stopped himself firmly in his seat and just gaped at Sasuke in shock. "How?!"

"He told them." Sasuke replied as he set his menu to the side, knowing that his friends would not allow him to look at it again unless he had told them every single detail about his holiday. "Itachi received a call from Kisame during dinner. Seems his apartment caught fire while he was trying to cook something on the stove. Itachi tried to leave and my dad wouldn't let him. So he just blurted everything out while they were fighting."

"Did your dad do?" Kiba asked cautiously, afraid that he may hit a cord with the youngest Uchiha.

"… He kicked him out."

Naruto could not believe what he was hearing. Itachi, Sasuke's older brother and main source of support, was no longer welcome in his own home. The blonde could shake the feeling of guilt that sat in the pit of his stomach. He was so certain that he was the one whom had been put through Hell this Thanksgiving, when Sasuke had been through so much more and yet he was willing to tell his story, while Naruto tried to brush off the topic.

He like a complete ass.

A chuckle pulled both Naruto and Sasuke from their thoughts and forced them to turn their attention to the brunette beside them. "I can't believe Kisame almost burn down his apartment." Kiba laughed out. "I'll never let him live that one down."

When the dog-loving teenager broke out into a loud laugh, Sasuke could not help but add in a smile of his own. "Itachi called me last night. He was pissed at Kisame when he found out the whole story."

Both Sasuke and Kiba shared a short laugh at Kisame's blunder. As Naruto watched his friends laughing and trying to see the bright side of this unfortunate situation, the guilt slowly melting away and was replaced by a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I guess Kisame will never be allowed near the kitchen ever again." Sasuke added on as an afterthought while he reached for his menu, set aside some time ago.

"Anyone else just get a mental image of Itachi in an apron(3)?" Naruto said after a short pause. The statement itself made both Kiba and Sasuke stop whatever other thought process their individual minds were leading them down, Naruto's words forcing their way into their brains, and made them think of nothing else but that slightly disturbing mental image. The silence produced from the boys' momentary pause was then immediately followed by an outburst of laughter from the brunette sitting directly across from him.

"Oh dear god!" he exclaimed, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "That image will haunt me forever, I swear!"

"It will for me as well." Sasuke grumbled as his pale fingers gently massaged his temples, almost like he believed the action would rid him the disturbing images of his older brother. "I should tell him about that thought of yours to get back at you, Naruto." The raven's eyebrow twitched in his annoyance, since the image of his brother simple would not leave his mind, and gave his blonde friend an irate smirk while his fingers still worked on his pale temples.

"No! Don't tell him!" Naruto shouted, throwing himself closer to the raven-haired teen in his panicked state, his hand latched onto the collar of Sasuke's shirt. "He might just actually do it if he knew that I thought about him like that!" Sasuke pulled his hands away from his face and let his dark orbs open so that he and Naruto may see eye to eye. He tried to ignore the small distance between himself and the blonde, wishing not to overreact to such closeness while they were not only in public, but had a witness to his secret. Sasuke let his gaze drift over to said witness for a moment and realized, which great relief, that the brunette beside him was too busy laughing to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Or so he hoped.

Luckily, Sasuke was spared from further humiliation when the young waitress walked back over to their booth and placed their drinks down along the wooden table. Naruto let go out his friend's collar and placed his order, followed by Sasuke and Kiba who did the same as he. The young girl smiled at the three boys and then left their table once again so that she may attend to the other customers in the vicinity.

Sasuke was just about to answer Naruto's plea, now that the young waitress was out of earshot of their odd conversation, when once again his poor shirt collar was assaulted by Naruto as his tanned hands wrung themselves around the thin material. And once again he found the air around him to be slightly denser. Or maybe it was that his lungs refused to breathe in the oxygen around him. Either way, he knew whatever had come over him was only because his best friend had yet again closed the distance between their bodies and once again tried to test his patience (even if Naruto himself was not aware of that fact).

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" he whined, almost pleaded. "You were just joking, right?"

"Of course I was, moron." Sasuke said as he pried the blonde's hand off his shirt collar and slipped past Kiba so that he could exit out of the booth. It was suddenly getting a little difficult to breath with his friend in such close contact with him. He needed to get somewhere he could cool down and make his mind stopped turning toward inappropriate thoughts.

"Where are you going?" Kiba asked, moving his body away from the raven as he passed by him with his face fixed into a tense and forced stoic expression.

"Bathroom." was his simple reply.

The remaining two boys watched their friend closely as he walked away from their almost private booth, due to how far away it was from the other customers. Kiba narrowed his eyes on the raven's retreating figure before he turned his attention over to the blonde sitting across from him.

Kiba slid over in the booth, so that he was now sitting directly next to the blonde-haired boy, whom was still completely focused on Sasuke even though the raven had vanished out of their sight for some time now. The brunette tapped his friend's shoulder, causing him to jump slightly, and gained his undivided attention with the serious look on his face.

"Don't you think Sasuke is acting a little strange?"

Well the question certainly threw Naruto off. "What do you mean 'strange'?" the blonde countered with his features twisting into a look of confusion.

"Just… strange." Kiba said, almost as if he himself were unable to fully explain the Uchiha's behavior.

"If he is, he has reason to." Naruto scratched his cheek as he tried to reach for words. He was not exactly sure what Kiba was trying to get at and what was worse is that it made him feel as if he had missed something completely and utterly obvious to everyone else, but he was unable to notice any chance in his best friend. "I mean, the whole thing with Itachi really got to him so of course he's going to be a little weird."

"No. It's not that. You saw the way he was able to bounce back from that after he told us about what happened." Kiba finally let his gaze move away from the blonde and drift off into space, like he was searching for the right words to voice his thoughts properly. "And… I've been noticing little things for a while now. Long before today. Maybe a little less than a month."

Naruto tried to understand what his friend was telling him. After all, he was the closest person to Sasuke, so he should have noticed if there was any change in his behavior. He, unfortunately, found that he had not noticed anything in particular that stuck out as being odd in the raven's actions. The fact that Kiba had noticed something different about Sasuke before him was weird and new experience for the blonde. He almost felt… jealous.

"Did something happen between you two?" Kiba asked suddenly, returning his gaze back to the blonde.

"W-What?" Naruto stuttered, suddenly feeling very nervous with the turn the conversation was taking. "What do you mean by 'happen'?"

"I don't know. Just thought that maybe he was acting weird because something happened between the two of you. After all, you guys are best friends."

That same feeling of guilt piling up in the pit of his stomach returned with full force yet again as the brunette's words fully sunk in Naruto's mind. Kiba was observant. More so than anyone would guess. And now it was obvious to Naruto that all those times where he had thought that Kiba was ignoring the signs or simply not even registering that things were slightly off, he was secretly collecting information until he felt the need to bring up the topic to someone. It was as if Kiba had backed him up into a corner without him evening knowing.

Why did Sasuke have to leave them alone?

"I guess something happened." Naruto confided, his voice getting softer, which coaxed Kiba to scoot closer to the blonde once again. It was obvious that Kiba was very interested, maybe even a little shocked that Naruto was actually going to tell him something rather than brush it off. But it was definitely something that the blonde had to tell. Things had gone on for far too long and he needed to get it off his chest.

Especially if it was affecting Sasuke the way that Kiba said it was.

"I sort of…" he stalled, afraid to put the words out there. Naruto took a deep breath, held the oxygen in his lungs for only a moment before he released it in an unsettling sigh. "Kissed him."

"…" The look of Kiba's face would have been priceless to Naruto had he not been dreading that his friend would react like this. The brunette stayed silent for a moment longer; Naruto could feel his patience wearing thinner and thinner the longer Kiba prolonged the inevitable freak out he knew was coming. The blonde tensed when his friend regained his composure and finally spoke up, breaking the heavy silence. "I was wondering when you two would finally get together."

Not exactly the response that Naruto had envisioned.

It was now his turned to dawn the expression of complete and utter astonishment that had graced Kiba's face only a moment beforehand. And then the denial started to set in. He began to second guess his own ears and able to comprehend others. Because there was no way in Hell that his friend had just said that to him.

"What?" he managed to force out.

"Well it was obvious that you and Sasuke had some sort of thing for each other." Kiba confessed as he reached across the table to grab his drink, obviously bored with the conversation now that he knew what was up with his two friends. "Everyone was just waiting for you two to act on it."

"That's not…" Naruto then suddenly got the full extent of Kiba's words. "Wait. Everyone?"

"Yeah. Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Temari and her brothers… That's one of the reasons why Hinata gave up on her crush on you. Well, besides figuring out what a catch I am." The brunette lips stretched out into a haughty grin as he enjoyed his own compliment to himself.

For second Naruto got the sudden urge to hit every single one of his friends. He stared at his friend for another second before the use of his vocal chords finally came back to him. "That's not what happened between us at all!"

Kiba looked a bit taken back by that last phrase. He set his drink back down on the table and looked over at his blonde friend, his look of confusion back in place. "Then what did happen?"

"I…" he stalled again, now a little ashamed as he tried to avoid eye contact with the brunette. "It was the night of my party. You remember how drunk we were." He waited for a second since he noticed that the dog lover nodded his head in agreement to his statement. "And… I just sort of did it."

"Why?"

"I don't know! I was drunk! I just… did it."

"How did Sasuke take it?" he asked slowly, almost as if he knew the answer and did not want to hear it.

"He doesn't know that I remember doing it." Naruto said reluctantly. He knew full well the next reaction that he was going to get from his brunette friend. He closed his eyes, turning his head away from the dog loving boy and waited for his friend to begin.

"WHAT?!" he shouted. Naruto oddly felt better after the first shout left Kiba's mouth, now that the suspense was over. But at the same time, he felt worse than before. The blonde let his head hang slightly, his guilt only increasing the more he told his friend of the night in question. He now found himself wishing that he had not even brought up the subject. He could have lived with that guilt festering within him rather than having another person's scorn weighing down on him.

Just what he needed to add to his already shitty life right now. More guilt.

"You just let him think that you couldn't remember?" Kiba reproached. "What the fuck, dude?"

"What did you want me to do?" Naruto said, his voice much softer than his friend's, hoping that it would signal him to follow his example so that they may continue their conversation without adding any unwanted attention to themselves. "I was drunk and it meant nothing. Just a stupid action while I was out of it."

"You sure?" Kiba pressed.

"…" Naruto pursed his lips together tightly, still too afraid to make eye contact with the brunette beside him. "… No." Even Naruto was surprised to hear himself say that. To be so brutally honest with both himself and Kiba after he had been deluding himself for so long now.

"You should tell him."

"I don't even know where to begin." Naruto mumbled, fiddling his tanned fingers as they lay against his lap.

"Naruto, you and Sasuke have been best friends for a long time. You owe to both of you to be honest with him. He'll understand and you guys will still be friends no matter what happens."

Naruto sat still, his eyes focused solely on his hands in his lap, not evening attempting to look over at Kiba in fear that he may feel another wave of guilt splash upon him and break him down to his limit. He knew the brunette next to him was right, but at the same time he was too scared of the slight chance that everything between him and his best friend would crumble before his eyes. Over what? A kiss. It was not worth it. It was nothing. To either of them.

At least that's what he kept telling himself.

The silence was broken when Sasuke walked up to the booth, silently signaling to Kiba for the brunette to move out of his seat. While he waited for the dog lover to move out of the booth, he sighed in relief for that break he took away from his two friends. Just a few minutes to cool down and banish any and all wicked thoughts that any compromise his secret feelings for the blonde was exactly what he needed.

He gave a mental sigh of relief before it dawn on him that his too noisy friends were suspiciously quite. He slid into his seat once Kiba had made room for him and glanced back and forth between the two boys on either side of him.

"Something wrong?" he asked looking to Naruto first, then to Kiba when the blonde remained silent.

He noticed that Kiba also stared at the blonde, though his gaze held something else behind it, as if the two of them had some sort of secret that they were trying to silently convey without the Uchiha's knowledge. He brushed it off as nothing when the brunette finally spoke up. "It was nothing." Kiba replied in a sort of impromptu act. "Naruto was just telling me more about his Thanksgiving."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, seeming more concerned for his friend now that he knew the topic of discussion that had just passed by without him.

Naruto felt the guilt rise in his stomach yet again. Sasuke was worried about him. The mere thought was laughable now. Thanksgiving seemed like a walk in the park compared to his current problem that Kiba had forced to the surface of the blonde's mind. He took in a deep breath and braved a look over at the worried raven. "Mom and Dad had a big fight during dinner." Naruto was surprised at how easy it was to talk about the whole thing now. He felt as if he had been blowing the whole thing way out of proportion before.

He felt like such a fool.

"Both of them ended up blaming Iruka for the fight." He added on at the last minute.

"Even your mother?" Sasuke replied, taken back somewhat from the surprising information. "Is everything going to be all right?" The blonde flinched at the worried tone in the pale boy's voice. He did not deserve it.

"I think so." Naruto said, putting a false smile on his face in hopes that it would ease Sasuke's nerve. "You know my mom. She's just being stubborn right now. She'll come around and realize she was wrong sooner or later."

He felt Kiba's eyes on him as he spoke. And he hated every second of it. But at the same time he knew that he deserved the disappointed stare and his silent scorn. Because he was at fault here. And he needed to fix things.

Naruto just wondered if he had the courage to fix things.

Nevertheless, the blonde knew that this lunch was going to be the most stressful lunch of his lifetime.

--

(1) I have been going to that restaurant with my friends for almost just as long and that is our spot. I like sitting under the picture of five guys' asses XD. They were nice asses. ((I'm a perv, I know))

(2) Those of you who had held a job before should understand that line. I think anyone who works for minimum wage will inevitably hated their job.

(3) I'm sure almost everyone who's reading this just imagined the same thing. And I would eternally love the person who would be so kind as to draw me a picture of that mental image :D!

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**So was that worth the wait? I hope so. People second-guessing themselves. Kiba being awesome. Well, I thought he was awesome. But I may be a little biased considering Kiba is one hot stud XD ha, ha.**

**Enjoy!**


	26. It's Sick

**Sorry for the lack of update, loyal readers. I had one serious case of writer's block. I mean, I knew what I wanted to happen, but every time I went to write it I froze up and couldn't bring myself to do anything except stare stupidly at the screen like I was some sort of caveman looking at fire for the first time.**

**I'm gonna blame college for frying my brain XD. That or the alcohol. :pause: I mean… Don't drink kids :laugh:.**

**On the up side... It's the one year anniversary of Just Not Enough!! :throws party: Wow! I can't believe I've been writing this for so long! It doesn't seem like it's been that long for me. But I bet you guys have felt the time ((with my awful updating XP)). Let's pray that the next year will be even better!! ((I hope it doesn't go on for the ENTIRE year though XD.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If it was mine, I think everyone would be on anti-depressants XD. I make people suffer just for kicks. God, I am sick :P.**

**Warning: One sided Boy Love and language. I've had it like this for a year and I'm still not tired of it. I don't think I ever will be. So... Get used to it XD.**

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Naruto had been acting… off.

Yes. That would be the only appropriate word for the blonde's behavior.

Sasuke had noticed the slight change in attitude sometime during the first few weeks that followed their Thanksgiving break. He still acted like him, but something different. His actions seemed to hold some hidden meaning behind them and his words, though filled with the same cheerfulness and obvious perverted tone (depending on the blonde's current mood and situation) that it always had carried. But it all seemed different.

Off.

The raven was not sure exactly what had caused it or what the change meant, but he could not help his curiosity from getting the better of him from time to time, leading his thoughts into a never ending spiral of questions and suspicions.

And one of those moments occurred while he and the blonde were sitting in homeroom, chatting with their classmate, Yamanaka Ino.

"I can't wait for the new Narnia movie to come out." The young girl said with a smile as she let her head rest on her small hands. Her elbows perched on the edge of Naruto's desk, making the distance between her and the blonde-haired boy smaller than it really should have been. The small gap seemed to go unnoticed by Naruto, but not by Sasuke.

Ino had also seemed to act differently. At least around Naruto. Sasuke had to wonder if this change had a cause to it or if it was just as mysterious as Naruto's subtle difference in behavior. It was not as if she was acting dramatically different from how she used to be, it was also as if something was… off with her. She rarely made eye contact with him or Naruto, almost as if she feared her pale blue eyes would give off some hidden secret that she would rather keep to herself.

But the idea really made no sense to the raven, considering Naruto already knew that Ino liked him. Sasuke momentarily wondered if there was something else fluttering around in the young girl's mind that she had managed to keep secret.

"Yeah, it does look good." Naruto replied back to her with an equally warm smile that Ino had given to him. "I want to see it."

"Want to go with me when it comes out?" Ino asked almost innocently, like she did not understand what the question implied. It certainly gained Sasuke attention, pulling him from his thoughts and reservations and forcing him right back into the two blondes' conversation.

"That'd be fun." Naruto said back, a small smile still in place.

"Sasuke!" Ino called over to the raven-haired boy sitting beside them. "Would you want to see the movie too? We can go to see it over Christmas break!"

"Isn't that like two weeks away?" Sasuke asked, wondering why the blonde was making plans so far in advance.

"So? Just gives us more time to clear our schedules."

He paused momentarily. "I didn't see the first movie." He replied back evenly after a second of considering their offer. Once the raven's words sunk in, Ino's smile faltered for a second, but was shortly replaced by an even larger smile.

"Naruto!" she called back to the blonde-haired boy. "You have the first movie don't you?"

"… Yeah." He answered reluctantly.

"There you go! You can just watch the first one with Naruto sometime." Sasuke had to admit, it felt very odd having someone else planning a "play date" for two other people. He wondered if Naruto felt somehow like he was responsible for backing up Ino's claim and if he failed to do so that it would be him at fault and not the blonde-haired girl.

Sasuke tried to move the conversation passed their current topic and decided to just answer the girl beside him. "Sure. I'll go." He sighed and turned his attention away from the two blondes beside him.

"Wonderful!" Ino cheered.

She then went on to continue her conversation with Naruto, but the tanned boy was not much or any attention to what Ino had to say to him. His entire mind and thoughts had now been stolen away by the raven-haired boy beside him. It had been easier to ignore him and the guilt nestled deep in his stomach before Ino had to call attention back to his best friend and remind him of everything that he had been avoiding.

It had literally been weeks since Kiba had forced the information out of his and commanded that he confront Sasuke. But every time that Naruto had come almost remotely close to telling the pale boy, he had back down before the words even left his mouth, too afraid of his friend's possible reaction. Naruto groaned internally at his cowardly actions, but he just could not find it within him to bring up the subject of the drunken kiss they had shared all those weeks ago.

Thinking about all those unwanted thoughts made his stomach turn painfully to the point where he could not take it any longer. The guilt and shame just kept building up the more he thought about his best friend. It made it worse when Naruto continued to believe that their bond was not strong enough to withstand something like this. Almost as if he thought that their friendship was so fragile that a stupid drunken kiss could ruin their bond.

Another uncomfortable churn of his stomach sent his tan arms down to his abdomen, cradling his body hoping that the action would somehow soothe the pain. He needed to get out of there.

"I don't feel so hot." He muttered to his two friends, not really caring if they were listening to him or not.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked, her voice filled with concern as her pale, blue eyes glance up at Naruto with curiosity and worry. He turned away from the blonde-haired girl, not wanting to feel anymore guilt add to his already plentiful amount.

"I feel sick." He replied softly as he stood from his seat. "I'm gonna go to the nurse."

Naruto walked away from his two friend, never turning his head back in their direction incase their expression would increase the guilt pilling up inside of him. He could not handle anymore just because he was now leaving class as he pretended to be sick, all to avoid the guilt ridden thoughts and the source of all his guilt, his best friend.

After he quickly got a pass from his homeroom teacher, he exited the room and practically sprinted down the hallways of Thomas Jefferson High School, headed towards the nurse's office that would thankfully let him escape his troubles. He walked into the nurse's office right as the bell that signified the end of homeroom rung throughout the spacious halls. He closed the door to the nurse's office, sat down in the one of the many chairs around the office and waited for the nurse to call him back.

"Come on in." a woman's voice said as a hand could be seen from the open doorway, which lead to the back room of the nurse office, that motioned him to enter into the room. "What's the problem, Hun?" The nurse asked as she turned her face from her computer screen and pulled her glasses away from her face and let the spectacles on the top of her head.

Naruto looked down at the older woman and grimaced slightly, trying to make the nurse believe in his illness. "I'm not feeling too well."

"First period just started." She said, eyeing the blonde with a doubtful tinkle to her glare. "Do you think you can stick it out?"

"…" Naruto thought about spending the rest of the day here where both Sasuke and Kiba would be constantly around him, being a continuous reminder and adding to his already large amount of guilt. "No. I don't think I could make it through the rest of the day."

"Let me take your temperature." She sighed as she rose from her chair and walked over to the electronic thermometer, placing on a small plastic covering on the tip, and then beckoned Naruto to walk over to her. Once the blonde was right beside her, she placed the thermometer in his ear and waited for a few seconds, before a loud beeping sounded off, indicating that device in Naruto's ear was finished with its task. The nurse removed the plastic covering and looked at the electronic screen on the thermometer, before she gaze drifted back to the tan boy beside her. "Your temperature's normal. What do you want to do?"

Naruto watched her discard the plastic covering before he answered her, feeling like the older woman did not believe in his illness and was silently scolding him for faking poor health. "I'd like to go home." He said softly, without meeting the older woman's eyes. She sat down in her chair and took her phone off the charger.

"What's your parent's number?"

"My father should still be at my home." Naruto mused before he gave the nurse his home number. The older woman dialed the number before she placed the phone up to her ear and waited, her face looking like she would rather be anywhere else in the world then where she was, and doing anything else beside her job.

The older woman finally spoke, meaning that Minato had finally picked up the phone, and exchanged a few words with the blonde's father before she held out the phone to Naruto. "He wants to talk with you." She stated before turning her attention back to her computer screen.

"Hey, Dad." Naruto said softly as he took the phone from the school nurse and held it up to his ear.

"_What's up, Naruto?"_ Minato asked from the other end. His voice sounded both concerned and sleepy, which did not surprise the blonde-haired boy. He knew his father usual woke up an hour or so after he usually left for school; the older man was probably woken up by the sudden phone call. _"The nurse says you're sick."_

"Yeah. I am." Naruto answered. "Could you come get me?"

"_Sure. I'll be by before I head off to work."_ Minato said as he tried to stifle a yawn. _"See you soon, kid."_

"Bye dad." Naruto then placed the phone back on its charger and looked over at the nurse when she suddenly spoke up.

"Is your father coming to get you?" she asked, though Naruto was sure the older woman already knew the answer.

"Yes."

"Then take this pass and get your stuff. Come back here to wait for your father." Naruto took the pale yellow slip of paper from her hand and then quickly walked out of the nurse's office. He stepped out of the doorway and looked down the empty hallway. He had heard the bell that told all students that first period had just started a few minutes ago while he was with the nurse in the back room. He felt somewhat guilty that he was skipping out on the entire school day while everyone else was forced to stay here for another six hours. But he also felt slightly relieved that he was able to go home. He would not have to suffer through another stressful day of Kiba encouraging him to tell Sasuke and said raven always being around him when his brunette friend was not.

He sighed when he was at his locker. He quickly pulled out his backpack and his jacket, leaving behind most of his binders and books, knowing that he would not need them since he had not gone to any of his classes yet. He closed the ugly, green locker and walked slowly down the hall.

Once Naruto had come to the end of his short stroll from his locker to the nurse's office he slowly opened up the door, only to come face to face with one of people he was trying to avoid: Kiba.

"K-Kiba?" the blonde asked, shocked at the odd and cruel coincidence. "What are you doing here?"

"I just brought Hinata down here." The dog lover explained as he jutted his thumb toward the back room of the nurse's office. The confused look on the blonde boy's face signaled Kiba to continue on with his explanation. "The poor thing fainted as she was giving a speech in class. I didn't know her stage fright was that bad(1)." Kiba rubbed the back of head as his eyes glanced back toward the back room, where Hinata was most likely lying down on one of the uncomfortable mattresses that the nurse called beds.

"Oh." Naruto replied back. "Wow. Poor Hinata. I hope she didn't hurt herself."

"I think she'll be okay." Kiba said as his focus returned to the blonde before him once again. That is when he finally realized he had yet to ask Naruto the same question. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I'm going home." Naruto said as he tugged on his backpack's strap, adjusting it so it sat more comfortably on his shoulder.

"Not feeling well?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah. My stomach is killing me."

"…" Kiba let Naruto pass him so that he could enter into the nurse office, but he kept his gaze on the blonde at all times. "Are you sure you're not feeling well?" Kiba was beginning to sound just like the nurse, with the same suspicious tone to his voice that she had when she asked a similar question.

"… Yes."

"Have you talked to Sasuke yet?"

"…" Naruto was thankful when their conversation was interrupted by the school nurse as she came walking into the front room in the large office.

"Mr. Inuzuka." She stated rather loudly. "What are you still doing here? Go back to class."

"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure that my friend was okay." The dog lover then pointed toward Naruto, to specify who he was talking about. He then gave Naruto one last warning glance before the brunette left the office completely and headed back to his classroom.

Naruto sunk down into his seat once his friend was out of sight. That was exactly what he had wanted to avoid. Kiba was not just going to let something like this go, especially since both Sasuke and Naruto were two of his closest friends. For the first time, Naruto actually hated that loyal quality to his dog loving friend.

He let out a frustrated sigh and let himself relax into one of the many chairs in the nurse's office and was content to just wait there until his father came for him.

--

'_I can't believe him.'_ Kiba grumbled as he walked to his locker after the last bell of the school day rang, marking the flood of the many students of Thomas Jefferson as they all tried to make their way through the large building as quick as possible so they may be able to get home a whole minute earlier.

As he opened his puke colored locker, he slowly took out his jacket and sorted through the books that were absolutely necessary for him to take home. "Kiba." He heard his name being called by a familiar voice and turned his head slightly to see the owner of the voice. Before he closed his locker, a certain raven-haired boy walked up beside him with a stoic look in place of his face, but worry and concern evident in his eyes.

"Hey, Sasuke." He replied back, a little harsher than he should have answered. But he was still so anger at Naruto for avoiding the raven beside him for a few weeks about something so simple. Okay, it was not exactly simple, but the blonde should have still told him. Because if Kiba knew anything, it was that Naruto and Sasuke's bond was strong enough to withstand something like this and to not be changed or weakened.

"Have you seen Naruto?" he asked obviously concerned about his blonde-haired friend's disappearance.

"He left during first period." Kiba answered back.

"So he did leave when he went to the nurse." Sasuke mused to himself as his gaze drifted away from Kiba and floated out into space as he was consumed by his inner thoughts.

"Yeah, he said he wasn't feeling well." Kiba said bitterly.

"… Something wrong?" The Uchiha asked as his dark eyes focused back on the brunette beside him, sensing the edge in the dog lover's voice that was not normally there.

"…" Kiba's eyes darted over to the raven once before they focused once again on the contents of his locker. "No. Sorry. I've had a bad day, I guess." Sasuke shrugged at the brunette excuse, satisfied with the excuse since it was not completely out of the ordinary to have a bad day when one attended TJ high school.

"A-Ah. Excuse me, K-Kiba." A soft voice said from the other side of the brunette. Both boys looked over at the owner of the voice and saw the timid Hyuuga Hinata standing before them, her fingers intertwining and fiddling with one another as she worked up the courage to make eye contact with the dog loving boy.

"H-Hinata!" Kiba stuttered, red coloring his cheeks. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I just wanted t-to thank you." She mumbled out, her pale eyes drifting back and forth between Kiba's face, the floor and the lockers beside the small group. "F-For bringing me to the n-nurse this m-morning."

"Oh! It was no problem." Kiba grinned at the shorter girl. Sasuke huffed at how obvious Kiba was making himself out to be to the poor girl. Though, she seemed to be just as obviously infatuated with Kiba as well. She began to play with a strand of her pale raven hair that seemed almost lavender in the artificial lighting, all while her pale eyes tried not to meet with the brunette's, as if that would just make her blush more intense.

"It was very kind of you." She said softly.

"Again, it was no problem. Are you all right?" he asked, his smile dimming slightly.

"Y-Yes!" she answered suddenly. "I-I'm fine." She then looked around again, trying for the thousandth time during their short conversation to avoid eye contact, before she finally spoke up once again. "W-Well, I should leave. Goodbye…. Kiba."

"Y-Yeah. Bye, Hinata!" he called out to the shorter girl as she scurried away from both Kiba and Sasuke.

"Smooth." Sasuke said sarcastically once Hinata was well out of ear shot to overhear his little remark. Almost immediately Kiba's emotions had changed, making him turn on the raven beside him, his eyes glared daggers at him. The brunette was now very angry with both him and Naruto, and he felt as if that he deserved some sort of revenge against them for his stressed mood.

And idea then came to him. "Oh, Sasuke." He called out as the raven started to walk away from the brunette.

"Yes?" he asked as he turned back to face his friend, a little curiosity as to what the brunette could want now, or if what he was about to say to him was just going to be a waste of his time.

"Naruto told me before he left this morning that he wanted to talk to you about something."

Kiba could have sworn that he saw some oddly placed emotion run across the raven's face, but it was gone so quickly that the dog lover was not sure if he had really seen the subtle change or if he had just imagined it all. Either way, the Uchiha spoke up before he could even ask about the little slip in his stoic expression. "Did… he say what it was about?"

"No." Kiba replied back, already wondering if he had made the wrong choice in forcing a confrontation between his two friends.

"… Oh. Okay." With that Sasuke turned away from the brunette yet again and made his way down the crowded hallway. Kiba watched his retreating form with a small frown on his face. "I hope I did the right thing there." He said mostly to himself. Unsure of himself and his actions, he closed his locker quickly and hurried down, hoping that he would still be able to catch his bus, and tried to push his insecurities out of his mind.

He was sure that Naruto and Sasuke would be able to handle themselves.

Everything would be okay.

He hoped.

--

(1) I told my friend **search in all the wrong places** that I was going to put this in here. She almost did the same thing as poor Hinata. She was giving a speech in her History class and she got so self conscious and full of stage fright that she confessed to me that she almost passed out. Poor thing.

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**Oh noes! Ugh. I had such a hard time writing this chapter. I swear, my ability to concentrate on things is getting SOO much worse. I really need some ADD medication or something XP.**


	27. Author Note 2

**!!Important!!**

**This story will no longer be updated. In other, less nice words, I'm abandoning this story. I feel really guilty doing this, because I did wish to see this story to the end, but there is just not room in my life for fanfiction anymore. If you wish, please continue to show the same support you gave me for my fanfictions for my new current under-goings: Better Days the premiere webcomic of HINGE. You can find the links where you may find the scans of the webcomic and other stories on my author page on this site.**

**Again, please forgive me for no finishing the story. I apologize profusely to all my beloved fans that gave me so much support over my time spent on Fanfiction.**

**~Kodoku na Oujo**


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